


Within An Endless Night

by KRenee



Series: The Unity Trilogy [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beneath a Steel Sky, Dark, Demons, Friendship, Gen, Language, Magic, No pairings - Freeform, Sequel, Supernatural Elements, Violence, deceased original characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-05-10 22:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 189,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5603278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KRenee/pseuds/KRenee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after her departure from Konohagakure, Kaisuki meets up with an old friend, primarily to warn him about an impending threat. Little does she know, the threat she was warning him about is only the tip of a very, very large iceberg. Rated for language and violence. Sequel to Beneath a Steel Sky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. an old friend

Crowded places always made him paranoid.

It wasn't as though he had a whole lot of reason to _be_ paranoid - he was Uchiha Itachi and there wasn't a soul in the entire Shinobi Nations who could cast a more powerful genjutsu than he. And he cast genjutsu over himself and Kisame whenever they came into contact with large populations, such as the noisy, crowded diner they had stopped in for breakfast.

Crowds were easier to conceal oneself in, but the more people that were around, the higher the chance of someone recognizing him or his chakra signature. He couldn't disguise his chakra. He could completely mask it, he could make it feel like he had no chakra at all, but he couldn't make it feel like it was someone else's. That was impossible, as inconvenient as it was.

" _It's so loud in here. Like,_ _ **really**_ _loud._ " Madara remarked for the third time. Itachi ignored him, as was protocol when in public. The spirit never knew when to shut up. He had been particularly restless all afternoon, and Itachi was getting tired of his shenanigans.

Well, Itachi was always tired of his shenanigans.

Madara leaned over, resting his head on Itachi's shoulder and freezing the living Uchiha's entire arm with the action. But, Itachi was used to it. He didn't react. He didn't twitch, or flinch, or try to inconspicuously shove the spirit off him. No one else in the entire Shinobi Nations could see Madara, so he couldn't react to the constant jabbering and frigid physical contact when there were other people around.

The ghost of Uchiha Madara was amazingly needy, but Itachi had grown used to him. The annoying spirit had been following him around ever since they'd met in that hole in the ground in Tanigakure, back when Itachi was freshly nine. At first, it'd been hard to block out the ghost talking to him while the living people in his life were talking to him, but he'd figured it out and gotten used to it. He sometimes wondered if that was what being a Yurei was like.

But despite all his complaining about the ghost that haunted him as obnoxiously as possible, Madara and Itachi were immensely close. Madara knew literally everything about him, as he'd been a firsthand witness to everything Itachi had done since they'd met. It was a comfort to be able to be so candid with him. He had nothing to hide from the spirit. There was nothing he _could_ hide. His ancestor had been at his side at every moment of every day for eleven years.

Madara had kept him from losing his mind to the stress of his final mission in Konohagakure.

Itachi's eyes slid over every face in the crowd as he refocused his attention to his surroundings. He had been more distractible than usual as of late. He wasn't sure if it was the progression of his sickness or if it was the stress catching up with him, as it sometimes did. He often made himself sick with anxiety. Kisame had been forced to take care of him while he'd been feverish and extremely ill more times than he wanted to admit.

His gaze fell on their replacement waitress, who was at a table across the diner. Their original waitress had been relieved of her duties as her shift ended and had been replaced by a pleasant enough girl. She was well-mannered and didn't pay them any more attention than they wanted her to, which was a nice change of pace from the waiters and waitresses who seemed to think that they needed to swing by every table at least every three minutes.

People were such a hassle.

Their waitress straightened up from where she'd been explaining an item on the menu to another patron and turned around. He watched her as she looked over every face in the room while slowly walking away from the table she'd been at, eventually settling on him for a second before she headed into the back. Only a minute later, she resurfaced and made a beeline for their table, looking just as good-natured as she had since the moment she'd introduced herself.

" _She looks really familiar,_ " Madara commented as though he'd read the living Uchiha's mind " _Right? Blink twice for yes, once for no._ "

Itachi didn't respond in any way. He knew that Madara knew he wouldn't, and he knew the ghost wouldn't be offended. It was how they did things; no one else could see Madara, so Itachi had to ignore him throughout the day to ensure that he wasn't labeled a hallucinating psychopath. It was much easier said than done.

She did seem oddly familiar, though. Itachi wasn't one to assume things, but he knew he wouldn't have forgotten her. He didn't forget anyone. He didn't always remember their names, but he knew when he knew someone. If he had met her before, he was sure he would've remembered her, but aside from the familiarity of her mannerisms and smile, he didn't recognize any of her features. Her eyes were electric blue, her hair short and messy and black, her eyes shadowed with fatigue, and her skin pale enough to look sickly. She stood out just enough to be memorable, so he was certain he had never met her, even though he'd been through the dinky little diner several times before.

"Can I get you two anything else today?" She asked them politely. Kisame hummed thoughtfully, giving the impression that he was actually thinking about it when Itachi knew he wasn't.

" _Get some dango. I know you want some. You always want dango._ " Madara suggested. Itachi considered it for exactly three seconds before making his firm decision.

"No, but thank you," Itachi replied smoothly when Kisame looked over at him. His partner always did that, and it didn't seem to matter what the situation was, or how much they'd eaten, or how much they disliked their server, or anything else. "We'll have our check, please."

" _I swear you're the most boring person in the entire Shinobi Nations._ " Madara groaned as though he was losing out on something. It wasn't as though he could _eat._ Annoying ghost.

The waitress seemed to have been expecting that answer, because she immediately reached into the front pocket of her apron and pulled out a thin piece of paper that had been folded in half, "Then here's your check. You can bring that to the register whenever you're ready. Have a good afternoon."

He nodded silently, and she didn't wait for any further conversation. He watched her make her round through the diner, zigzagging around tables and stopping only at those with patrons who had been staring at her as she walked towards them. He turned his attention back to their check after becoming bored with watching her, only to find that Kisame had already picked it up and was staring at it rather intently.

He didn't say anything, instead drinking down the rest of his tea and waiting patiently for the punchline. Kisame had a penchant for taking forever to answer questions, whether spoken or unspoken, despite the fact that the larger man was as impatient as they came. After a moment, his blue-haired companion slid a second, smaller piece of paper out from the fold of their check and handed it to Itachi.

"Do you know her?" He asked, eyebrows raised. "Because she knows you."

" _Wait, what?_ " Madara straightened up from leaning on Itachi, the chill immediately dissipating. " _I knew she looked familiar. Who the hell is she though, really?_ "

Itachi slid his gaze back across the room, eying every patron, every server, every person walking in and out, but he didn't see her. He had a clear view of the entire diner, including most of the kitchen whenever the door opened, but she was gone. His eyes narrowed as he took the note from Kisame, flipping it over and scanning it carefully. Unfamiliar handwriting, but the tone of the note was very informal and sounded very much like someone who had to know him personally.

_I.U._

_I'm going to be stopping by wherever you are at 5. Do us all a favor and be in your hotel room at that time. And don't try to run away from me because I'll just track you down again, and that'll just be awkward for both of us._

" _Weird,_ " Madara commented as he read over Itachi's shoulder. " _I guess we should head back to the hotel then, right?_ "

"No," Itachi slowly replied to Kisame's question while he slid the note into his pocket. "I don't know her. Or rather, I don't recognize her. She wasn't using a genjutsu, either."

Kisame hummed thoughtfully as they stood up, "Then she probably changed her appearance some other way. Hair dye, hair cut, contacts, weight loss... there are plenty of ways to change how you look relatively subtly."

" _I don't think that's it, but okay._ " Madara murmured, " _I dunno, I feel like we're missing something._ "

Itachi didn't reply to either Kisame or Madara as he paid for their meal, and remained silent for several minutes beyond that. He was good enough with faces that he ought to have recognized her, even if she had changed her eyes and hair in some fashion or another. He supposed it was possible that he _didn't_ know her, even if she did know him somehow. Perhaps she knew of him through someone else. In that case, he probably ought to be wary of her, because the chances of her seeking him for help were outweighed by the chances of her looking to attempt to kill him.

" _Assassin? Or maybe a friend of a friend?_ " Madara was muttering under his breath as he strode alongside Itachi.

Abruptly, his chest began to ache, a signal that he needed to either duck into an alleyway or walk a bit slower. He was already a bit winded from the three blocks they had walked. He really was getting worse too fast. At his current rate, he'd probably be dead long before Sasuke was ready to fight him. He needed to find another treatment, another doctor, _something_. He couldn't expire before Sasuke killed him.

" _Oh, we're coming up on stairs,_ " Madara suddenly said, looking over at Itachi. " _You alright? You look kind of pale._ "

He still didn't reply as he and Kisame walked in the door to the hotel they were staying at, neither of them so much as waving at the front desk as they strode towards the staircases. Their room was on the third floor. He wasn't sure he would make it all the way to their room without having to stop. The chest pain was getting worse with every shallow breath he took and he felt a little lightheaded. He wasn't getting enough oxygen. He was never getting enough oxygen, though. Not unless he was sitting down and at rest, and even then it was only just barely enough.

They were halfway up the second flight of stairs before a stabbing pain erupted in the left side of his chest and he let out a breath that was more of a wheeze. He could feel Kisame's eyes on him almost instantly, and he knew that his partner had stopped to wait for him to catch his breath. Madara appeared at his side, pressing an icy hand to his chest. It helped a little to relieve the pain, but not enough. He wheezed again, coughing lightly.

Madara kept one hand on his chest and one hand on his back, the cold seeping through his skin and freezing his chest, and Itachi was thankful for it. It dulled the pain a little, though only for a few seconds before the stabbing pain became about ten times worse.

He gripped the banister hard to ensure that he wouldn't fall backwards down the stairs and doubled over, pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket and pressing it to his mouth just in time for the coughing to start. He choked out a cough, which was closely followed by the standard coughing fit that wracked his entire chest cavity with excruciating pain. Madara continued to rub circles on his back, and Itachi wanted to thank him but Kisame was present and he couldn't really breathe enough to speak.

It seemed like every time he had a coughing fit (and they were getting more and more frequent as time wore on) he was robbed of a little more of his lung capacity. The last time he'd seen his current irou-nin, he'd been told that he was working with about forty percent of what his lung capacity ought to be.

He didn't know enough about the illness itself to satisfy him, and it was because no one else seemed to know much of anything about it. It wasn't common enough for a cure to have been found, and the current treatment was effective only in slowing the progression of the disease to a crawl, so he could suffer for five to seven years instead of two to three.

He was probably going to be dead before the year was out.

His eyes were watering by the time the coughing fit subsided, and he could tell by the jerky movement of the spirit's hand that Madara had reached extreme concern. There was a coppery taste in his mouth but he hadn't managed to cough anything productive up. It seemed to be getting harder and harder to get the blood up and out of his lungs.

He swallowed, still wheezing as he let the hand that had been pressed over his mouth drop to his side. The pain in his chest was close to unbearable, and it would stay that way for at least twenty minutes. That girl was going to show up in about thirty minutes, assuming she had meant what she said. He needed to take some painkillers as soon as they got into their room.

" _Are you okay? Do you... well, I can't really do anything except freeze your chest._ " Madara said, sounding very helpless. Itachi sort of felt bad for Madara when he started having his coughing fits. Madara had no one other than Itachi. If the oldest of the two remaining Uchiha died, he would be completely alone once again, and it would likely drive him even more insane than he already was.

"You alright?" Kisame asked, as he always did. Itachi didn't respond right away. He didn't want to move. He was holding his breath periodically. Expanding his lungs with air was excruciating after his fits, and he knew that holding his breath wasn't the best way to deal with it but he didn't have many other options. Nothing else helped.

" _Itachi?_ " Madara called quietly, still rubbing circles on Itachi's back.

Finally, the Uchiha nodded, extremely aware of the likely obvious tremor in his shoulders. He slowly straightened up, tightening his grip on the banister as vertigo washed over him. He didn't protest when his partner grabbed him by his bicep and tugged him forward. The amount of time that it took for him to recover from his coughing fits was too long for Kisame to wait for him, so his partner had been charged with the task of keeping them both moving in some fashion or another (whether through guiding, dragging, or carrying him) while he was catching his breath.

Madara walked behind him, ready to catch him if he fell even though he wasn't really allowed to. The two Uchiha could interact with each other as though Madara wasn't dead. The spirit could pick him up and inflict violence upon him and hug him and etcetera. It was always extremely cold wherever Madara touched him, but he didn't mind the cold anymore. It was rather comforting at that point.

He was still gasping and wheezing when he fell into the armchair in their hotel room, pressing the heel of his hand into his sternum and closing his eyes. He felt Madara sit down on the arm of the chair beside him, and let out a shaky sigh when his ancestor pressed a hand to his chest again. The whole left side of his chest was aching. He wished, as he often did, that he could just _lay down_ , but he couldn't. He hadn't been able to lay down in two years, because he would drown in his sleep if he did, and it was the most miserable part of his illness.

" _Kisame's got your drugs_ ," Madara suddenly said. Itachi didn't respond, didn't move, so that Kisame wouldn't know that he already knew he was coming. In his condition, he was usually too distracted by his breathlessness and pain to notice approaching presences. He didn't really like having to lie to Kisame constantly, but there was no way his fellow Akatsuki member would believe that he was haunted by the ghost of Uchiha Madara.

"Itachi-san," he cracked his eyes open, staring up at his very tall partner. The blue-haired man was holding out a glass of water, which Itachi received with shaky hands. Kisame let him drink a few mouthfuls before he handed over the bottle of painkillers.

He dumped three pills onto his palm and took them immediately. His breathing and heart rate were finally beginning to settle down, and the worst of the pain had dulled somewhat. He was amazingly tired. He wanted to take a nap but he was apparently expecting company at any given moment.

He glanced at the clock. It was quarter to five. Getting to their room had taken longer than it should have. Three blocks wasn't that far, and three flights wasn't that many stairs.

"Do you think she'll actually show?" Kisame asked from where he had seated himself on his bed. "Actually, I guess the better question is, do you think that note was actually from _her_?"

" _I do._ " Madara stated pointlessly. Itachi ignored him.

The Uchiha looked over at Kisame tiredly. "I do think it was from her, and I do think she'll show, and..." He frowned slightly, turning his gaze towards the door and staring hard at it.

"And?" His partner pressed impatiently.

"I don't think her intentions are hostile," he answered slowly, after a pause. "At no point did she ever present as though she despised me for some reason, and that's strange all by itself."

" _Yea, I noticed that too. Well done, Itachi, you're observational skills aren't fading with your eyesight_." Despite his urge to punch the ghostly peanut gallery, Itachi continued to ignore Madara.

"No kidding," Kisame agreed. "Usually when people recognize you, sharp objects come out."

He glanced at the clock again. Five minutes to five. She hadn't said she would be there _at_ five, but rather that she'd be there _around_ five. She obviously wasn't the early type, so either she was going to knock on their door within the next five minutes, or she was going to be a while longer. She had looked like the punctual type, but people behaved differently when they were dealing with notorious criminals. Even if she was usually punctual, she may have required extra time to talk herself into actually showing up.

Kisame, Madara, and Itachi all looked at the door at the same time as the sound of someone rapping sharply on the old wood reached them. His partner looked over at him, and the Uchiha merely nodded, not moving from his seat on the armchair. Instead, he adjusted the way he was sitting so he looked less like someone who had just run a marathon and more like the ice cold Uchiha Itachi he was famous for being.

" _Oh boy, this should be fun._ " Madara bounced in his seat, and Itachi resisted the urge to sigh irritably. He was too tired for his haunt to be as energetic as he was.

His partner was very clearly ready to grab Samehada, which was leaned against the wall by the door, as he slowly opened the door partway. Itachi watched his partner's back, noting that his shoulders seemed to relax just slightly, indicating that - as the Uchiha had suspected - she wasn't presenting as a threat.

"I'm unarmed, so you can calm down a little," he heard her voice float into the room. "But you can pat me down if you want."

"Kisame, let her in." Itachi stated, not at all commandingly. Madara muttered something, but Itachi wasn't paying enough attention to make out what he said. He wished he could tell the dead man to be quite for a moment.

His partner glanced over his shoulder at him, and their eyes met for just a second before Kisame stepped aside and opened the door to let her in. She walked into their room, glancing around curiously before her gaze fell on the Uchiha himself. Kisame shut the door behind her and walked past her to stand beside Itachi. She hesitated for a split second before she crossed the room, stopping at the foot of the bed closest to where he was sitting. She sat down on the bed, sighing heavily before looking at Itachi again.

"You look _terrible_." She said bluntly, her lips pulling into the ghost of a sad smile. Itachi pointedly didn't respond, his gaze hardening instead.

" _I like her,_ " Madara announced obnoxiously.

"Who are you?" Kisame asked for Itachi, "Obviously you're not a waitress."

She turned her gaze to Itachi's partner, before returning her gaze to Itachi. "I had kind of hoped you might recognize me, but I guess the blue eyes kind of take away any possibility of that." She quietly admitted.

Itachi's eyes narrowed, confusion beginning to wear at his patience. Who was she? He didn't recognize her at all, and yet she spoke to him as though he had known her personally. He felt like he did know her in some way, but he couldn't figure out where he'd met her, the circumstances behind whatever interactions they'd had, or anything else for that matter.

Then, she blinked and her eyes were suddenly vividly red.

" _Holy shit, is that...?_ " Madara breathed, and Itachi could practically hear him grin beside him.

_Kaisuki._

Madara had always liked Kaisuki, but Itachi stiffened at the immediate recognition, consciously making the effort to not let his eyes widen. Her eyes had been blue. That was a spirit he was unfamiliar with. If she'd come up to him with Saeka's hot pink eyes, he would've recognized her instantly. But, he supposed, if she'd wanted him to recognize her, she would've just come up to him with her own red eyes.

"Kaisuki," he stated blandly, masking how breathless he still was with practiced ease. "What are you doing here?"

" _You're still pretty pale,_ " Madara commented quietly. " _Are you okay?_ "

"Nice to see you too, Itachi." She said sourly, glaring at him. There was a pause in which her eyes flashed green for just a split second. Three spirits, then. Or had more than that awakened?

"Who the hell is this, exactly?" Kisame grunted, sounding impatient. "Kaisuki who?"

"Tsubaki Kaisuki," the red-eyed girl supplied, offering a sheepish smile to the swordsman. Kisame raised his eyebrows slightly. He knew more about the Tsubaki clan than Itachi did, as that lineage originated from Kirigakure. "I grew up with Sasuke and Itachi. They're... well, they _were_ like brothers to me," she explained with a huff. "Until they both decided to turn into _dicks_."

Kisame snorted, "How the times change."

" _Yea, really,_ " Madara grunted.

"No kidding," Kaisuki muttered in reply. Itachi resisted the urge to sigh heavily at the people in the room who seemed to be momentarily acting as though he wasn't there.

"What are you doing here?" Itachi repeated, staring at her icily. She turned her attention back to him again, and he watched her gaze soften slightly. It threw him off guard somewhat. He would've expected her to have been angry with him.

He had taken away the few people that she had called family after her own family had been slaughtered by Saeka. He had killed off his parents (they had basically become her parents) and abandoned the village (he had been the older brother that replaced her older sister), which in turn caused Sasuke to also leave Konohagakure to pursue power (they had been _so_ _close_ when they'd been little).

" _Wow,_ " Madara quietly interjected. " _She... did she forgive you?_ "

Itachi didn't react visibly, but his heart rate went up a few beats per minute. He didn't want to think that she had forgiven him. He didn't deserved that.

After a brief pause, Kaisuki sighed, her expression turning serious. "You're being tailed." She finally stated, "Actually, let me rephrase that. You've been being tailed for a very long time by a very powerful asshole."

_She didn't used to curse at all._

"Oh, really?" Kisame retorted disbelievingly. "And who might that be?"

" _Excellent question, Kisame._ "

Kaisuki's eyes flashed blue briefly, her expression darkening for just a moment before her eyes flickered back to red and she reached up to massage her temples. She cleared her throat, taking in an irate breath, and replied a little hotly, "His name is Teara." She turned her attention back to Itachi, "He's one of Orochimaru's, I gather, and he can take out Saeka easily. And if you'll recall, Saeka almost killed you twice. I don't know which of you two he's following, but he's _definitely_ following you."

Itachi didn't respond immediately. Teara? He'd never heard of such a name.

" _Who the hell is Teara?_ " Madara asked no one, as only Itachi could hear him.

"How do you know that?" The living Uchiha asked, his tone still frosty.

There was a lengthy pause, and Itachi watched Kaisuki's eyes glaze over momentarily before they switched to pink. His middle finger dug into the palm of left hand, an instinctive response to the immediate burst of anxiety. It wasn't so overwhelming that it was a problem, but his heart rate definitely increased by a few more beats per minute, and it was definitely making his chest hurt again. He swallowed inconspicuously. He hadn't spoken to Saeka in years. The last time he'd seen her, she had been trying to kill Sasuke. He had protected his little brother from her, and she had responded to that by impaling him with all ten of her talons.

He'd very nearly died. She'd ripped a hole right through his spleen and if his mother (she had been an irou-nin) hadn't heard Sasuke shrieking, Itachi would've bled to death long before he made it to the hospital.

" _Woah, shit, hi Saeka._ " Itachi really just wanted to punch the ghost. He was being extra fidgety, extra talkative, and most importantly, extra _annoying_. Something had to be bothering him. Or perhaps he was just in one of his moods. He did occasionally have odd mood swings.

"Teara is my older half-brother," Saeka said softly. Kaisuki's voice was higher when Saeka spoke through her, and it sounded a little strange coming from the body of a fifteen year old. "We share the same mom. He was... he _is_ an attempt at a homemade Yurei." Itachi's eyes narrowed. He hadn't heard about any such experiments. He would've thought that a supposedly uncontrollably powerful force like "Teara" would have been slightly more common knowledge.

Madara fell silent at that point, leaning over onto Itachi again and freezing up his entire arm in the process. The living Uchiha didn't react, just paid close attention to what Saeka was saying. He supposed he would heed their warning, but he didn't need or want their help. He _really_ didn't need or want it.

"He wasn't born with any spirits residing within him, though, and Orochimaru-sama labeled that as a failure until he discovered that Teara could pull in the spirit of anyone he killed. But instead of hosting a number of spirits, it would appear that he's... hosting the embodiment of pure evil instead." Saeka trailed off, and Itachi could tell she wasn't going to explain any more of that. Madara had stiffened beside him, and he wanted to ask what was wrong, but he couldn't.

Saeka cleared her throat, and continued. "The last time you saw Sasuke," she began. "I picked up on Teara when he came into town, and I went after him because I wasn't sure if he'd followed you or Sasuke. I didn't know how long he'd been tailing whoever it was he'd been tailing, so I didn't want to take any chances. I was going to chase him off, and..."

Once again, she trailed off into silence. Only this time, she didn't speak again for several minutes. Itachi waited patiently. He had never actually had a full-length conversation with Saeka. She was... more meek than he would've expected. Her anxiety while talking about Teara was clear as day, and she didn't seem to be working to hide it at all. He would never have imagined her to be so anxious. He had always thought that - if she became coherent at any point in time - she would be angry and hateful.

"And?" Kisame suddenly prompted. Itachi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, noting that he actually looked fairly interested in the story. There was a measure of seriousness on his face that wasn't usually present unless the situation was actually proving to be dangerous.

"I asked him what he was doing, and... he said he was 'doing a friend a favor and stalking the pretty one.'" Saeka swallowed, looking up at him with eyes that held nothing but shame. He wasn't sure what it was she was so ashamed about, but it didn't matter. It _didn't_ matter _._ "I wasn't sure if he was talking about you or Sasuke, but when I felt him follow you out of town, I... Itachi, he's following _you_. If he was doing it for Orochimaru-sama, he would've mentioned him by name. There's... someone even stronger than Teara pulling some strings. And Teara..."

She took in a shuddering breath. "I was unstable because I had more chakra than my body could handle. Teara... Teara's the one who killed me. I was violent and sporadic enough that he couldn't do it slowly, but... Itachi, he wouldn't _just_ kill you. He breaks people for fun. He'd have a ball with someone like you."

" _Well, shit._ " The ghost beside him straightened up as he commented. " _Itachi, this actually sounds kind of serious. What are you gonna do?_ "

As was protocol, he completely ignored the spirit sitting beside him. "You don't need to concern yourself with my welfare." Itachi responded icily after she had finished her explanation.

" _Really?_ " Madara was going to hit him later. He was the kind of person who would hang on to the urge to hit Itachi until he was given the opportunity. At least he had the common sense not to smack the living Uchiha in the presence of Kisame and Kaisuki. " _You're such a_ _ **child**_."

In immediate response to Itachi's reply, Kaisuki's eyes flashed blue, and then back to pink, and then green, and then back to blue, and at that point they didn't switch again. The teenaged Yurei stood up, her fists clenching tightly and her expression shifting into one of pure rage.

"You fucking piece of _shit_ ," she snarled, her voice slightly deeper. "Kaisuki didn't _need_ to tell you that you're being stalked by a guy who could _easily_ rip you apart, just like I don't _need_ to take your head off your fucking shoulders, even though I _really_ want to." Her shoulders had begun to shake, and Itachi felt Kisame stiffen beside him, ready to spring into action at any given moment. "We came to warn you because we care. We _all_ care. Even though you're the biggest, baddest _dirt bag_ in the entire fucking Shinobi Nations."

_Ah, so that's where the profanity is coming from._

" _Who... is this one?_ " The dead Uchiha beside him breathed. " _She's kind of scary._ "

Itachi let out a soft sigh. "I appreciate the gesture," he lied, "but I really don't need you, or anyone else, looking after me. I can take care of myself."

Kaisuki looked like she was actually about to hit him when her eyes suddenly glazed over again. This time, almost five minutes passed before her eyes switched back to red and she slowly sat back down, reaching up and pressing his hand to her forehead for a long moment. She took in a shaky breath, one hand still clenched into a fist, her pain very evident.

She sighed again, straightening up and returning her gaze to his. She suddenly looked extremely tired, "Thanks," she said sardonically. "For pissing off Khrai. You're lucky she and Saeka are matched in a battle of wills, because you just almost lost your fucking head."

"Kaisuki," Itachi ground out. "You don't need to be here."

"Well, no, you're right. I don't," she agreed, scowling. "I'm here because I want to be. There's no "need" about it. You've got it all wrong. And I didn't just come here to warn you about Teara. Izumi... well, I'll let you talk to her for a minute, and then I'm gonna go. So... try not to piss anyone else off, would you?"

He wanted very badly to roll his eyes, but he resisted the urge. "Who is Izumi?"

"Green eyes," Kaisuki replied. "She's an irou-nin."

_Oh._

" _Oh,_ " Madara repeated Itachi's exact thoughts. " _Do you think she noticed that you're sick? She must be really good, then. Are you gonna not be a dick?_ "

Kaisuki's eyes flashed to green, her smile disappearing and her expression becoming grim. "It's called Inflammatory Lung Syndrome," she stated, getting straight to the point and blatantly changing the subject without warning. Itachi was unable to prevent himself from blinking in mild surprise. "The tissue of your lungs repeatedly becomes inflamed, and over time it causes excessive scarring. Eventually, blood vessels begin to wear down and break, and that is what causes the bleeding and the coughing fits. It's only going to get worse from your current state. I'd say you're working at thirty percent of your lung capacity. You're lips, fingertips, and toes are tinted purple - cyanosis, which is caused by your cells not getting enough oxygen. You're pale as a ghost, and by the way you're breathing, I'd say you're about to have another coughing fit."

Itachi's jaw was tight. She knew a _lot_ more than he'd been expecting. And she was absolutely right - the ache in his chest was returning, once again towards the left side. He swallowed and cleared his throat, glaring at her. He _was_ about to have another fit, and he couldn't prevent it at all.

"I can treat it," Izumi stated seriously. Itachi froze, his tongue sliding between his teeth and he was biting down on it before he knew it. He didn't want her help. He didn't want Kaisuki to have anything to do with him. That was too dangerous. He didn't know what she really wanted, but he didn't want her following him. He didn't want her in his life. Especially not now. _Especially_ not now.

" _Itachi..._ " Madara said quietly, prodding his shoulder. Itachi ignored him. His chest was really, really tight. He wasn't sure he would be able to talk in a few more moments.

"I can't _cure_ it, though. You'll have to be on medication for the rest of your life. But I can reverse the damage and make those episodes of inflammation stop," the irou-nin stated. "I can also drain the fluid out of your lungs right this second and get you back up to at least seventy percent capacity. It won't last unless you let me treat you, obviously, but it'll give you an extra year, I'd say."

"Wait," Kisame suddenly interjected, "How could you possibly treat this?"

"Kisame," Itachi cut in warningly.

"No, be quiet, you," Kisame snapped in reply, startling the Uchiha in silence. "How do you know so much about this illness? You're dead, not from the future."

" _Yea, go Kisame!_ " The dead peanut gallery added. Itachi bit down on his tongue harder as the pain in his chest began to flare up further.

"Kisame," Izumi directed an icy look towards his blue companion. "I hail from Tsukigakure. This disease plagued Tsuki no Kuni for decades. I died about ten years after we had discovered an effective treatment. They probably have a cure by now, but I can't exactly walk over there and get it. But I _can_ treat him, and if I do, he'll be able to live a long and healthy life. Like I said, he'll be on medication for the rest of that life, but he'll be alive and not drowning in his own blood."

He heard Kisame swallow beside him, "Itachi-san." He didn't actually ask, he just reintroduced Itachi to the conversation. Itachi cleared his throat again. He was feeling lightheaded and he couldn't get in enough air to form a full sentence.

He took in a shuddering breath and, once again, a sharp, searing pain erupted on the left side of his chest and he pressed a hand to his mouth and started to cough. He hunched forward, wheezing harshly as he tried to get in air past the blood that was trying to come up his windpipe.

He felt someone grab his hand, directing him towards the edge of something that he quickly recognized as a wastebasket. Madara was speaking rapidly to him but he couldn't hear him past the hacking and wheezing and coughing. He was beginning to think he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen (and possibly _die_ ) when he heard Izumi speak over his coughing, closely followed by Kisame.

"I can drain his lungs, right now. He'll be able to breath and-..."

"I don't care about that, just do it," his partner's voice was basically a snarl, and there was a brief pause, more voices, and a warm hand pressed against his chest, just over his diaphragm, while another was placed on his back in approximately the same spot.

"Itachi," Izumi called. He was still wheezing, but the coughing was subsiding, "I'm going to drain your lungs. This is going to _hurt_. You'll feel the urge to swallow - _don't_. Cough it all up."

He didn't respond at all, still wheezing. After a moment, he felt Izumi's hands heating up - irou-ninjutsu - and almost immediately an immense pressure crushed against his lungs. Pain shot through his chest and he gasped. As the pressure slowly began to travel up his chest, alongside the movement of Izumi's hands, blood rushed into his mouth and he coughed it out harshly. He couldn't _breathe_ past it, and the pressure began to move up his chest a little faster, forcing the blood that had collected in his lungs to evacuate.

His eyes were watering. The pain was completely unbearable, and he couldn't breathe at all. Izumi's hands continued up his chest and back, stopping at the base of his throat. The last mouthful of blood flooded his mouth and he spat it out, sucking in a breath immediately, which had him wheezing and coughing almost as soon as he took it in.

Izumi took her hands away from the base of his throat, and the pressure disappeared. He remained hunched over the wastebasket, his eyes hooded, his skin clammy, and his whole body shaking uncontrollably. He felt impossibly weak and sick and the taste of blood in his mouth was too strong. He was beginning to feel as though he was going to throw up when a pair of hands grasped his shoulders and pushed him upright, leaning him back onto the armchair.

He stared up at the ceiling, breathing erratically and shallowly. Kisame appeared in his line of vision, holding up a glass of water. His arms felt like spaghetti. His head was spinning and he couldn't really move.

Izumi then appeared, a cloth in her hand that she used to wipe the blood off his chin, before she took the glass of water from Kisame and held it to his lips, "Drink. It'll help."

He managed to muster the weakest glare ever, which she didn't respond to at all. Nevertheless, he parted his lips and allowed her to carefully pour some of the liquid into his mouth. She was right, it helped a lot. He took a few more gulps before she pulled the glass away and set it somewhere out of his sight.

The same petite pair of hands pressed against his chest again, and warmth flooded his chest cavity. The soreness and the pain faded away quickly, and within minutes there was no pain at all. Not even a dull throb.

The warmth from the irou-ninjutsu dissipated, and Izumi spoke again, one hand still pressed against his chest, "Take a deep breath, Itachi."

He hesitated for a moment before he took in a shaky breath, as deep as he could. Immediately, he noticed how much deeper he could inhale. It felt like he had regained almost all of his lung capacity. It didn't hurt to breathe. The pain was gone. His head began to clear as he continued to take deep breaths, relishing the feeling of being able to _inhale_.

Izumi leaned back and smiled gently at him, "Feel a bit better?"

His gaze hardened. Now that he was back in his right state of mind and no longer suffocating, he was actually quite furious. He hadn't wanted Kaisuki to see him like that. He could picture her pity, her sympathy, her worry, and he didn't want that. He didn't want any of it. He was supposed to have left all of that behind. It was supposed to _go away_ so he could die peacefully when the time came. He was supposed to have no more ties to the mortal world, so he didn't have to feel bad about dying.

" _H-holy shit,_ " Madara suddenly said, and Itachi almost jumped. He'd forgotten momentarily that the ghost was present. " _Are you okay?_ "

Izumi's smile disappeared abruptly, and her eyes flashed blue and she scowled darkly. It only lasted a moment more before her eyes turned back to red, a sign that Kaisuki had returned. She took a step back from him, and Itachi didn't see a hint of pity or sympathy or concern in her eyes at all. In fact, she just looked... calm. Content, almost.

" _She's so confusing._ " The ghost beside him commented pointlessly.

_No kidding._

Kaisuki turned her attention to Kisame, apparently deciding that she wasn't going to talk to Itachi anymore. "Well," she began, sighing yet again. "I'm gonna go, then. Good luck, you two."

He felt his blue-haired companion shift slightly, as if he was going to say something, but changed his mind. After a moment, his tall partner let out a breath and replied, "Yea, you too."

Kaisuki smiled at him, sparing Itachi only a glance before she turned away and headed for the door. She paused by the door, looking at the short table that sat there rather pointlessly. She glanced over her shoulder, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small piece of paper.

"I'll be leaving town whenever Teara does, but for now..." The Yurei stated as she set the piece of paper down on the pointless table. "This is where I'm staying, in case you convince him to stop being a stubborn ass."

Itachi scowled, but Kaisuki wasn't paying any attention to him. She smiled at Kisame once more and walked up to the door, opening it and leaving the room in silence. Itachi clenched his fists and stood up out of the chair. His chest didn't hurt. He didn't know how long it would be before the "inflammation" returned and he started coughing up blood again, but for now he felt fantastic, and it infuriated him.

_She wasn't supposed to see that._

" _I feel like you're overreacting a little bit. Are you just flatly refusing to listen to her because it's Kaisuki and not some stranger?_ " Madara suddenly asked, sounding agitated. " _She can_ _ **help**_ _. Why the hell won't you let her?_ "

"I'm going to shower," he muttered to Kisame as he walked past him. His partner grunted in acknowledgment as he was stepping in the bathroom, closing the door silently. Madara didn't follow him, apparently understanding that the living Uchiha was furious beyond imagination and didn't want to deal with his peanut gallery comments.

Once he was under the hot spray of the water, he clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms and chewed his tongue until it _really_ hurt. He should've ditched town. He should've just left before she got to their hotel room.

_And don't try to run away from me because I'll just track you down again, and that'll just be awkward for both of us._

And Teara... he wasn't sure how much of that story he believed. However, Kaisuki was honest to a fault. She always had been. She wouldn't lie to him about something like that, he didn't think. But if she was trying to get an angle to worm her way into his life, it was possible that some of her story was fabricated. He couldn't be sure until he confronted "Teara" himself.

For now, he would heed her warning and keep a close eye out, but he was going to take her words with a grain of salt.


	2. a new doctor

Itachi was in the shower for only half an hour before Kisame heard him starting to cough, but he didn't hear the shorter man collapse, so Kisame figured he was probably fine.

He had been sitting in the chair that Itachi had vacated, brooding about Kaisuki. Izumi had said that she could help Itachi, that she could reverse the damage and stop the progression of the disease completely. She had given that disease a name that no one else had and administered a temporary solution to Itachi's blood-filled lungs that Kisame had never so much as thought of.

And that stubborn Uchiha was flatly refusing to accept further treatment. He probably wouldn't have let that green-eyed spirit so much as drain his lungs if he had had a say in the matter, and it was likely because Itachi apparently knew Kaisuki from before the massacre. Kisame couldn't have fathomed why that was an important detail, though. Even if Kaisuki's true goal was to kill Itachi, the chances of her succeeding were close to zero, even if she was a Yurei. Despite how sick he was, the Uchiha was _extremely_ hard to kill.

She didn't seem at all interested in killing Itachi, though. The only part of her that had seemed like a potential threat was the blue-eyed one - Kurai, if he was remembering correctly - and she (he was assuming that one was a she, mainly because the other two were girls) had very obviously been reacting with a bad temper, not pre-meditated killer intent.

He glanced at the clock. Itachi had been in the shower for about an hour, and judging by the look on his face when he'd gone into the bathroom, Kisame could figure that he'd probably be in there for another hour. He stood up and crossed the room to the table by the door, picking up the slip of paper Kaisuki had left. The hotel was only about a block away, maybe less.

He set the piece of paper back down exactly as it had been left, grabbed one of the black cloaks they used when Itachi was too drained to use genjutsu to hide them, and exited their hotel room. He threw the cloak over his shoulders and pulled up the hood, thanking his lucky stars that the hotel staff didn't care who came and went, nor did it matter to them how sketchy the patrons looked on their way in and out.

He knew Itachi wouldn't care that he had gone out. He might be a little suspicious, but Kisame didn't especially care. If he could work out something satisfactory with Kaisuki, he would spend the evening convincing the younger man to not kill her on sight. If he had to, he would just tell Itachi that Izumi was now his doctor whether he liked it or not, and if he was going to be uncooperative, he was going to get knocked unconscious for every part of his treatment.

On the other hand, if he _couldn't_ work something out with Kaisuki, that would be the end of it. Kisame didn't particularly like the idea of watching his partner die slowly and in excruciating pain, but he knew Itachi would never forgive him if Kaisuki became a problem and jeopardized their safety or their missions. He didn't think that she would (at least, not purposefully), though the fact that she wasn't a missing-nin and therefore didn't know how that worked was unfavorable.

He was going to try and figure something out that would keep her away from that aspect of their lives altogether, though.

He walked into the hotel Kaisuki was staying at, making a beeline for the stairs. It was a rather dinky little place. Then again, Itachi and Kisame's hotel wasn't much better. He didn't think there were even any other hotels in the whole town.

She was on the fourth floor - room 420 - and Kisame couldn't help recalling to himself that Itachi hadn't been able to make it all the way up two flights of stairs before he had to stop. He walked up to the door to Kaisuki's room, raising his hand to knock when the door was abruptly pulled open. He stared at her for a moment - a sensory type? That could actually prove equally useful.

"Hi there," she greeted, stepping aside immediately to let him into the room. He walked past her, listening to her close and lock the door behind him. "You can make yourself comfortable. Not many places to sit in here, but I've been in worse places."

"I hear you on that one," he replied, taking a seat on the armchair by the window. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How's Itachi doing?" She asked right away, "Izumi wants to know."

Kisame frowned. "He had another fit about half an hour after you left." He conceded, "He was in the shower, though, and I didn't hear him collapse so he's probably fine."

Kaisuki's brow furrowed, her eyes switching to green and her expression alarmed. "That soon?" The Akatsuki member nodded silently. "He's been sick for a long time, hasn't he?"

"At least four years," he answered. "Probably longer. He has a habit of not telling me when he doesn't feel well, which results in either me never knowing he was sick in the first place, or him collapsing in the middle of battle."

Izumi nodded, frowning deeply. "At his current rate, he probably won't last the rest of the year if he doesn't get properly treated."

Kisame blinked, and he wondered faintly if his blue skin had lost color. The irou-nin was looking at him with sympathy in her eyes, so probably. "There's only eight more months in this year." He deadpanned.

"I know," Izumi replied, "He might not last six. His lung tissue has degenerated a lot, even more than I realized."

"I want you to be his doctor," he stated bluntly. "He's going to have a problem with it, but I can strong-arm him if I have to."

Izumi pursed her lips. "If I'm going to be treating him, I'm going to need to see him at _least_ biweekly. The doses will have to be adjusted very frequently, and that's not even getting into how often I'm going to have to drain his lungs for the first several months. I'd be much happier if I could see him once a week."

Kisame stared at her for probably an excessively long time. There was no way Itachi was going to be able to double back to a certain location every other week. He probably wouldn't be able to do that once a _month_. They were far too nomadic; their missions took them all over the Shinobi Nations, and just getting to those places could take them days, sometimes a week or more depending on how far away their starting point was.

"I have an idea."

Kisame hadn't even noticed that Kaisuki was back in charge of her body. He blinked, refocusing his attention on her. "And what would that be?"

Kaisuki frowned slightly, "You're probably not going to like it. Itachi will probably like it even less. But Izumi needs to be seeing him really often, and you guys are super nomadic. I know, I've been inadvertently tailing you for a couple of years now." She sighed heavily. "We could travel with you."

Kisame was about to start telling her all of the reasons why that was a bad idea, but she cut him off, "Wait, let me finish. Obviously it wouldn't be smart of you to drag me along on missions with you, so, instead of me _always_ traveling with you, I could just come along when you were between missions." She explained. "I'll already probably be pretty close by when I'm not with you, since I'll be tailing Teara, so you could just send me a letter with Itachi's crow to let me when the coast is clear."

"And what exactly would you do if we were attacked by a league of bounty hunters? That happens pretty often," Kisame asked skeptically.

"There won't be any attacks by bounty hunters so long as I'm with you," Kaisuki replied, smiling slightly. "Saeka is a sensory-type. She can pick up on normal chakra signatures within a mile radius, and she can pick up really strong ones, like yours and Naruto's, within... actually, we don't have a number for that yet, since we haven't really had the opportunity to test it out, but it's a _really_ far distance. So yea, we could easily elude them."

Kisame furrowed his brow. It seemed as though she'd actually put a good amount of thought into it. "And what will you do if word gets around that you're traveling with a pair of S-rank missing-nin? Your team... no, your whole village will probably have something to say about that."

He could instantly tell that she hadn't considered that simply by the look that crossed her face, and he almost regretted mentioning it. If he'd just let her go through with it without questioning her, he'd have snagged a doctor that could treat Itachi. However, Kaisuki _wasn't_ a missing-nin. She wore her hitai-ate on a glove that reached her elbow, and it didn't have a huge scratch down the middle. If she agreed to help Itachi (and Kisame, inadvertently), she would be betraying her village. She could end up in a BINGO book for that.

Kisame was an S-rank missing-nin, but that was by his own choice. He wouldn't force or wish his lifestyle on anyone.

"Sasuke," Kaisuki said quietly, expression downcast. "Outright betrayed the village. He has no intention of ever returning, and he left so he could go train under Orochimaru, who killed the Sandaime Hokage. He's not in the BINGO book because Naruto persuaded Tsunade-sama - the Godaime Hokage - to keep him out of it. I think I'll take my chances."

Kisame blinked, unable to hide his surprise. "Why are you so hellbent on helping Itachi-san out? What's your angle?"

"I don't have an angle." Kaisuki replied after a few seconds of staring at him almost incredulously. "I came to warn him about Teara because I care about him. I want to get him healthy because I don't want him to die. I haven't forgiven him for what he did and what he's done, but... I can't stay mad at him. I can't stay mad at anyone. I never hated him in the first place. I was just... really fucking pissed at him for being a lying fuckhead."

The Akatsuki member was caught somewhere between complete disbelief and mild astonishment. He was trained to be able to pick up on liars. He wasn't nearly as good at it as Itachi, but he could tell a trustworthy person from a liar. So far, Kaisuki had behaved in a way that suggested she wasn't lying to him. She probably wasn't well-versed in reconnaissance, so she probably didn't know how to conceal a lie from a trained eye. If Itachi had been worried about her as a threat, he would've said so early on and they probably would've killed her right in that hotel room to prevent her from telling anyone that Itachi was deathly ill.

He was certain she was being honest, and that was interesting in and of itself.

Kaisuki was watching him carefully as he stared at the floor and considered the option. If she was okay with anything that could happen to her because she was following Itachi and Kisame around, and if she didn't get in the way, he didn't really see a whole lot of problems with it. "Saeka" was a sensory-type, and that could prove useful. Izumi was an irou-nin, and that would definitely prove useful, especially because she seemed to be able to take one look at Itachi and know instantly that he was sick. The stubborn Uchiha wouldn't be able to hide it from Kisame when he was getting sick (aside from his terminal illness).

He didn't know anything about Kurai (was that her name?) aside from the fact that she evidently didn't have much patience for Itachi and definitely had a nasty temper. But she'd been able to restrain herself from removing his head, so he didn't think he had to worry about her much. He didn't know if she could be a threat if she turned on them, so he would have to instruct Itachi to at least _try_ to not anger her.

"I suppose," Kisame began slowly, frowning. "That if you don't have a problem with the thousands of horrible things that could happen to you if you travel with us, it's fine. But the instant you become a problem, you're out."

Kaisuki smiled at him, looking as though he'd just made her day. "Well, I'll try not to become a problem, then. What are you gonna tell Itachi?"

He snorted, "I'm gonna tell him that his opinion is invalid." He replied as he was standing up. Kaisuki rose as well, walking with him over to the door. "We're leaving town in the morning, probably close to eight. Meet us by the gate on the east side of town."

The Tsubaki nodded, "I'll be there," she said, unlatching the door and holding it open for him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He grinned at her, "Even if Itachi doesn't, I appreciate your willingness to help a couple of criminals like us."

Kaisuki's gaze softened, "Everyone deserves compassion, no matter what they've done. Izumi taught me that."

"Thank her for me," he replied. "I'm out. Have a good one, Kaisuki."

"You too." She called after him as he started down the hall.

 _Itachi-san's_ _going to have a conniption_ , he thought with a sigh. The Uchiha would probably throw a very quiet temper tantrum. He might refuse to speak to either of them unless it was absolutely necessary for the rest of their lives. He might also test the limits of just how uncooperative he could be before Kisame did something particularly unkind.

Kisame was going to have to decide how much he would let the younger man get away with before he did something about it.

When he walked into their hotel five minutes later, the Uchiha he had been brooding about was back in the armchair, his hair still wet and his eyes closed. Even while sleeping (well, probably dozing), Itachi's face was far from relaxed. He definitely looked like he was in a lot of pain, and Kisame could see that his breathing had become shallow again.

_"At his current rate, he probably won't last the rest of the year if he doesn't get properly treated."_

He scowled at the younger man as he was shrugging the black cloak off his shoulders. Itachi was incredibly unreasonable when it came to himself. He would plod on for miles with a high fever and then curse himself for days when he finally collapsed. Kisame didn't have a clue why he was so unrelenting with himself, but he was glad Kaisuki would be joining them. Izumi would pick up on it if Itachi got sicker than he already usually was. It would be a relief to not have to worry about his partner lying about his health until he was _really_ sick.

The real relief would be that he wouldn't have to continue watching Itachi slowly die.

 _If you're not going to take care of yourself,_ he thought with mild annoyance, _then I guess I'm gonna have to._

...

"How often do you get sick?" Izumi asked, glowing hands hovering over Itachi's back.

"At least once a month, up to three times a month if we're having a rough one," was the living Uchiha's rather sullen reply. "Usually just a fever for a couple of days."

Izumi hummed in affirmation, her brow furrowing in what seemed like thoughtfulness. Madara wasn't entirely sure if that was a good expression or a bad one. She had been occasionally making brooding faces at Itachi's back as she conducted the internal part of her examination of Itachi's state of health. She'd already done the external portion (which had involved a lot of attempts at deep breaths by Itachi and a good amount of tongue clicking from Izumi), and she had yet to actually explain in detail what she was discovering as she thoroughly checked the state of his respiratory system.

Madara was nervous. Izumi had said that she would be able to get him back to good health, but that had been before she'd been given the opportunity to really examine his state of health. Itachi was _not_ in good shape. The living Uchiha himself had said to Madara on more than one occasion that he was beginning to worry that he might not live to fight Sasuke, without giving any regard to the fact that his ancestor was in a state of near-constant hysterics at the thought of Itachi dying _at all_.

If Itachi died, Madara would be alone again. He'd already suffered through that crippling loneliness for a hundred or so years. He'd been driven mad by it. Itachi didn't understand what it was like to be _that_ alone. He'd been lonely for sure. He'd been miserable because of it for a number of years before he'd found Madara in that obnoxiously deep hole in the ground. But he'd _never_ been completely cut off from any form of contact with another sentient being.

Madara hadn't even been able to hang out with squirrels. _Nothing_ had been able to see him until Itachi had fallen through the overgrowth into his hole in the ground, where he'd been stuck for over a hundred years. That had been an... _interesting_ afternoon.

_"That was probably the most_ _**graceful** _ _landing I've ever seen. Ten out of ten."_

_"Who the hell are you?"_

He'd almost burst into tears.

"Okay, last question," Izumi began as she slid her hands around to the side of Itachi's ribs. The glowing seemed to shift to a slightly darker shade of green, and Madara blinked as he watched her forest green eyes brighten several shades. "How much time does it take between the moment you realize you're about to have a fit and the moment you actually start coughing?"

Itachi didn't respond right away. Madara looked over at him from where he was sitting cross-legged by the living Uchiha's knee. His face was paler than it had been a few moments ago, and he was very clearly clenching his teeth extremely hard. The pain was coming back, which also meant that he was about to have another coughing fit. The last one had been only two or three hours ago. It was a relief that they weren't _all_ as horrible as possible, but the fact that they happened at all was extremely stressful for Madara. He could only imagine how terrible they were for Itachi.

" _You okay?_ " Madara asked, knowing full well that he wasn't going to get an answer. Itachi cleared his throat, eyes slowly closing as he pressed a hand to his chest.

Izumi's hands shifted back to where they'd been originally, "You're about to have another fit, I see."

Itachi didn't respond except to take in a wheeze of a breath and immediately start coughing wetly. Madara scooted forward and pressed his hand flat on Itachi's back. It didn't help much, but it did soothe the soreness a little. It was all the deceased Uchiha could do to be useful, as pathetic as that was.

The fit didn't last as long as usual, likely having something to do with the paler glow around Izumi's hands. Madara had never seen irou-ninjutsu shift color like that. He didn't know what it meant, and he was sure it wasn't anything bad, but it was odd to him. He supposed it was probably something to do with the way Izumi had learned irou-ninjutsu in Tsukigakure.

Itachi gasped for a moment longer before he straightened up and swallowed hard. "A couple... minutes," he replied breathlessly to Izumi's earlier question, his voice raspy. "Usually anywhere from... three to five."

Izumi hummed in acknowledgment as the glow around her hands faded away. She let them drop to her side and stood up, walking around Itachi to Kaisuki's bag. Madara observed (as did Itachi and Kisame) as she pulled a mortar and pestle from the black bag. She set both down on the grass not far from the fire, her hands moving through several hand seals before settling on the ram.

"Zenshin kirikae no jutsu." A flash of green light swirled around her, completely obscuring her. A moment later, though, the light cleared and Kaisuki was no longer standing there. The brunette that had appeared in place of her was shorter, curvier, and her eyes were even gentler than they normally were through Kaisuki's visage.

"I've never heard of that one before," Kisame commented, attracting the woman's attention. She smiled slyly, leaning forward and digging her fingertips into the ground.

"Khrai taught us that one," she replied with a voice that sounded nothing like Kaisuki's. Her fingers began to glow a dark, murky green, and Madara watched in awe as plants began to spring up from the ground around her hand, growing incredibly fast. Within a few minutes, a couple of different ferns and herbs and flowers had grown to maturity and sat swaying in the slight breeze that rolled through the woods.

Madara didn't recognize any of them, " _What the hell are those?_ " He asked no one in particular. Itachi was watching carefully as Izumi started plucking the petals off one of the dark blue flowers, dropping them into the mortar a few at a time.

"There's another one I've never seen," Kisame remarked with raised eyebrows.

Izumi chuckled, "Well, we do things a little differently in Tsukigakure."

"I've never seen any plants like those before," Itachi stated flatly. Madara could easily pick up on the immediate suspicion in his voice. He rolled his eyes. He was relatively certain that Itachi and Kisame had already come to the conclusion that Kaisuki wasn't trying to kill them.

" _You're so paranoid._ " He muttered, wrapping his hand around Itachi's forearm, knowing full well how cold he was to the living Uchiha. Itachi didn't react, as he never did, but Madara knew he wanted to.

"You wouldn't have," the irou-nin replied, glancing up at him. "They're indigenous to Tsuki no Kuni. They won't grow here because the climate isn't right. But if you're worried, I'll be sure to give myself a spoonful of whatever I'm giving you."

"What are they for?" Itachi then wanted to know. The suspicion had faded somewhat with Izumi's assurance and likely a certain amount of convincing done within the living Uchiha's head. Izumi turned her attention back to the mortar, which was now half-full of flower petals, and started crushing them with the pestle.

"If I'm going to explain to you the plants, I'd best also explain what they're for. Firstly, your immune system is in _terrible_ shape. The insomnia coupled with the oxygen deficiency isn't doing you any favors, and this flower - it's called a moonwalker - is used to remedy that." she answered, touching the dark flowers she'd just been picking. She then indicated a fern that had pale pink rims around all of the leaves.

"This is a lacelle fern." She explained as she went back to grinding up the flower petals in her mortar. "This isn't for consumption. It's actually extremely poisonous if swallowed. Instead, I'm going to use a technique to absorb it into your lung tissue. The lacelle is an extremely powerful anti-inflammatory, so it'll combat that for you."

"Your nearing the end-stages of this disease," she continued after a brief pause in which she plucked a few more flower petals. Madara stiffened, glancing over at Itachi, who was listening very attentively. His face was still a bit pale, and the dead Uchiha couldn't tell if it was because he was finally learning just how close he'd been to death, or if he was just still in pain from his earlier episode. "If Kaisuki hadn't come along when she did, the larger blood vessels would've burst sometime in the next six to eight months. Once that starts, it takes up to ten minutes for you to drown, and it's excruciatingly painful."

" _Holy hell,_ " Madara breathed. Itachi had to be thinking something along the same lines. Death by slowly drowning in one's own blood was pretty high on the list of "worst ways to die." " _Well, I must say I'm glad this didn't get to that point. Thank you, Kaisuki, since I know Itachi won't say it._ "

"The scar tissue is the real problem, as it causes the degeneration of blood vessels. That degeneration is what causes the vessels to break and bleed into your lungs, which is where that stabbing pain comes from before your fits." Izumi told them. Kisame was watching her carefully as well, the expression on his face suggesting that he was in much the same boat that Madara was in.

The "thank god for Kaisuki" boat, that is.

"This," she ran a hand over the large, pale, heart-shaped leaves of the tall herb closest to her. "Is called a whiteheart. This also gets absorbed directly into your lung tissue, but it's not poisonous. In fact, we used them to make salad dressing in Tsukigakure because the stems are very sweet. It's job here is to mend the scar tissue back into healthy, normal tissue."

"The moonwalker and whiteheart are extremely potent plants, but given how far along you are in the progression of this disease, you're going to be started on _very_ high doses every three days." Izumi glanced up at Itachi, who was still watching her closely. "The lacelle is the one you'll be on for the rest of your life, and you'll be getting a dose of it every day to start. The dose is permanently unchanging, but over time you'll need it less and less often, until you only need it every two weeks or so."

Itachi looked like he wanted to say something for a few minutes, before he diverted his attention back to the fire. Madara instantly recognized his brooding face. The living Uchiha was probably contemplating the pros and cons of Kaisuki walking back into his life. It certainly meant that he'd live to fight Sasuke, which seemed to be his only concern in life at that point.

Madara reached over and prodded his arm, " _Can we go?_ " He asked, scooting a little closer, " _Please?_ "

Itachi stood up smoothly, and Madara grinned and followed his lead. "I'm going for a walk," he told Kisame monotonously. The blue-haired swordsman nodded offhandedly as he stirred the embers of their slowly dying fire. When Madara spared Izumi a glance, she was glancing over at Kisame as if to confirm that Itachi's behavior was normal.

Then, after a moment, she smiled. "Be safe."

Itachi hesitated for a split second before he hummed in acknowledgment and started off into the trees. Madara followed after him, practically bouncing with every step. Itachi and Kisame had been in that village for three days, so he hadn't gotten a chance to converse with his distant relative in that amount of time. They walked into the darkness of the trees, Madara's eyes adjusting in no time at all. He knew Itachi's would take a bit longer to get used to the lack of light, so he hooked elbows with him and guided him along to ensure he didn't walk into anything.

Itachi's eyes were pretty bad. They were much worse when he had his Sharingan activated, but without it, his eyes didn't dilate well and his vision was cloudy. Madara knew all about that part of the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he sympathized with the discomfort of not being able to see well. He would also sympathize with not being able to see at all when Itachi got to that point.

Because Itachi would definitely live to that point. Madara would make sure of it.

After about five minutes of walking, he knew the living Uchiha could see just fine, but neither of them were ever keen to let go of each other when it was just the two of them. Itachi didn't get much physical contact outside of violence. He never had. Not since his father had realized just how much of a prodigy he was, according to the Uchiha in question.

Madara had hated Fugaku from approximately the moment he'd met him. It wasn't as though the man hadn't cared for his son, but rather that he had put the wellbeing of the Uchiha clan before his own flesh and blood. To Madara, that was positively revolting. He couldn't possibly imagine doing such a thing to his _son_. He hadn't been able to do that to his _brother_. Madara had fought with Izuna for days when he'd offered up his eyes to his elder brother.

When they were fifteen minutes away from the campsite, Itachi started talking and pulled the ghost beside him out of his musings. "I don't want her with us."

" _Yea,_ " Madara replied dryly, though he was unable to remove the smile plastered on his face. He always missed talking to Itachi when he couldn't. " _I noticed._ "

Itachi came to an abrupt halt, pulling his arm free so he could turn and face Madara. "Really, Madara," he said, distress etched into his face. "She's going to get hurt. Or killed. Or something's going to happen and _I'm_ going to have to kill her."

Madara's smile faded, replaced by a frown. " _How can you be that sure?_ "

"She's not a missing-nin. She doesn't know how this works."

" _She's not an idiot either,_ " the dead Uchiha retorted. The living of the pair wrapped his arms around his middle, something he usually did when he was upset and alone. " _Itachi, I know you're worried about her, but she's not going anywhere unless she's forced to, and Kisame isn't going to vote her off the island until she proves to be a hindrance, and I doubt that's gonna happen. I think he likes her, actually._ "

Itachi didn't say anything in reply to that. He looked very upset. Madara sighed in exasperation, taking one of his wrists and pulling him over to the nearest tree, where he sat down, dragging the living Uchiha down with him. Once they had situated themselves comfortably, with Madara leaning against the tree and Itachi more or less sitting in his lap, leaning back against him, Itachi spoke again.

"I think she has an ulterior motive for showing up like this," he muttered. "I'll believe that she wanted to help get me back to full health, and I'll even believe that she also wanted to warn me about this "Teara" person, but I think there's something else to it."

" _Well, she's not mad at you,_ " Madara replied, wrapping his arms around Itachi's waist. He shivered slightly from the immense amount of cold, and Madara unthinkingly squeezed him tighter. " _So I doubt she wants to kill you-..._ "

"Do you think she's going to try and get me to tell her why I...?" Itachi interrupted, pointedly not finishing his sentence. He still didn't like talking about the massacre. "She was never the kind of person to just go along with whatever anyone said if she didn't think it was true, no matter who said it or why they said it. I knew Sasuke would believe me, because it's Sasuke... but if she thinks I was lying to him..."

" _Well,_ " Madara replied, " _that_ _ **was**_ _the worst lie you've ever come up with in your entire life. To test yourself? I mean, come on, that's a terrible reason. 'The ghost of Uchiha Madara told me to' is slightly more believable than that._ "

"What do I do if she asks?" Itachi asked, completely ignoring Madara's comments. The dead Uchiha frowned, leaning to the side slightly, which prompted Itachi to look at him. When it was just the two of them, the younger man was a completely different person. He was raw and open, and the pain and misery that clung to him wherever he went was never more obvious.

In the scarce amount of light from the moon, Madara could clearly see the panic, the distress, and the unadulterated emotional agony in Itachi's eyes. He looked like he was close to a breakdown. Every once in a while, the kid would have a full-on meltdown in the privacy of a twenty minute walk from the campsite (wherever it was in the world) and Madara would spend an hour or two doing his best to hold him together. The stress he was always suffering through coupled with the act he had to constantly put on was more than a normal person could remain sane through. It was more than any person should have to deal with alone.

If Itachi had been a lesser man, and if he had never met Madara, he would surely have thrown himself off a cliff years ago.

Madara absentmindedly squeezed Itachi's shoulders. " _I know I shouldn't have to tell you this, but I'm going to anyway, because you're not thinking straight,_ " he began, noting that the kid seemed to be having some difficulty maintaining eye contact, and he was looking more and more upset with every passing second. Definite sign of impending meltdown. He was probably working himself into hysterics.

" _She won't 'just ask.' Kaisuki knows better than to just come right out and ask you a question like that. She grew up with you, so there's no way she doesn't know how dodgy you are._ " Madara told him sternly. " _If anything at all, she'll wait until you tell her yourself, and if you don't, that's that. Not to mention the fact that she can't possibly know for sure whether you were actually lying or not._ "

His living friend directed his gaze elsewhere and took in a shuddering breath, leaning more heavily against Madara. There was a noticeable tremor starting in his shoulders. "I want to tell her." He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

" _Then tell her,_ " Madara replied promptly. He knew already that Itachi wouldn't, that he had convinced himself that he absolutely couldn't under any circumstances, but he also knew that the secret he had to kept was quite literally killing him. If there was anyone in the world who wanted Itachi to spill the beans more than the living Uchiha himself, it was probably Madara.

"I can't, and you know that," Itachi replied tiredly.

Madara sighed in exasperation. _"Actually, you can. There is nothing stopping you but-..."_

"But what?" Itachi snapped, leaning forward and twisting around to face him. "But the knowledge that if I tell her, of all people, that I was _assigned_ by the village elders to slaughter my family, she'll definitely go straight home and tell _everyone_? She'd tell _Sasuke_ , and I've been living like _this_ specifically to avoid that! Look at all that he's done with the intent of killing me; could you imagine what he'd do if all that hatred was directed at the _village_?"

Madara didn't say anything in reply, just waited knowingly. Itachi stared at him for a moment with wild eyes before he turned away and buried his face in his hands, taking in several shaky breaths. Over the course of the next couple of minutes that he stayed like that, Madara began to hear that he was getting close to hyperventilating. The dead Uchiha leaned forward enough to wrap an arm around Itachi's shoulder and drag him back over until he was leaning against his ancestor again. The tremor in his shoulders was being greatly exacerbated by his shallow gasping.

He hated seeing Itachi distressed to the point of a meltdown. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it was agonizing to watch. It wasn't like Madara could snap his fingers and make all of the kid's problems go away. He couldn't even find the right words to soothe him most of the time. All he could really do was be a constant pillar of support and curse Konohagakure's elders with every fiber of his non-corporeal being.

_"Madara, the only thing that would make all of my problems go away is death."_

_But you_ _**can't** _ _die. You can't just leave me like that._

He didn't think he would've ever used the words "suicidal" to describe Itachi, but the fact of the matter was that, when he thought about it, that was _exactly_ what the kid was.

"Why did it have to be me?" Itachi whispered thickly. Madara tightened his grip somewhat, knowing full and well that the kid had to be positively freezing. "I never wanted to be this... _perfect_. I should've told them to just kill me with the rest of the clan."

Without a second thought about it, Madara's hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of Itachi's hair, yanking his head to the side and ignoring his grunt of pain. " _Don't even_ _ **say**_ _that._ " He snarled, pulling harder. Itachi's hand came up and grabbing his wrist tightly, trying to resist the pull.

"Madara," the kid forced out. "Let go."

" _No,_ " Madara hissed in reply. " _We've been over this a hundred times, Itachi. You're not gonna die on me, do you understand? I won't allow it._ "

He pulled harder and Itachi made a thin sound of distress, but Madara ignored him. "I won't, just let go." The kid implored around a harsh wheeze.

For just a moment, Madara was too angry to register that the kid whose hair he was yanking on was beginning to have difficulty breathing. But when Itachi followed up another wheeze with a choked, agonized sound, the ghost realized that he had gone a little too far, as he often did. He released his grip immediately and Itachi doubled forward, coughing and hacking.

The fit didn't last long, and it wasn't nearly as bad as the ones the kid usually got, so Madara didn't feel particularly bad about inducing it, even though he was sure he ought to. After a moment of labored gasping, Itachi fell back against him, shivering and taking measured breaths.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Madara asked a little belatedly. He was sure that, had they been facing each other, Itachi would've leveled him with a glare. Instead, however, the living Uchiha didn't respond except to nod his head slightly, and that was good enough for Madara. Itachi knew better than to lie to his haunt about how he was faring.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Madara's moment of anger forgotten. Itachi's incessant shivering was the only thing disturbing the stillness and silence. When he was wrapped up in the frigidness that was Madara's non-corporeal body, it was impossible for Itachi to conceal how cold he was.

" _Do you think we should be heading back?_ " Madara asked, leaning to the side and resting his chin on Itachi's shoulder. " _Kaisuki and Kisame might be getting worried. We've been out for over an hour._ "

Itachi sighed softly. "Yea," he muttered. "I guess so."

...

" _So, I have a question,_ " Kaisuki stated as she stepped into the small kotatsu room. Khrai scowled at her, but didn't say anything. " _Why are you in such a pissy mood? Be honest with me. I promise I won't yell at you_."

She watched Khrai's fists clench on the table, her expression darkening. Kaisuki only raised an eyebrow. " _This is exactly what I'm talking about. What the hell is your problem?_ "

Saeka was absent, likely still frightened of Khrai's agitation and unsure of whether that foul mood was directed at her or not. Izumi was still making Itachi's medication. In that moment, it was just Kaisuki and Khrai, and the latter's bad mood hadn't yet faded from where it had flared the previous evening when they'd first met with Itachi and Kisame-san.

" _I mean,_ " Kaisuki continued when Khrai didn't reply. " _You're always scowling. You're also almost always cranky. But you're never_ _ **this**_ _pissed for_ _ **this**_ _long. Usually you're over it pretty quick. We have that in common and I've always appreciated it about you. So for you to be hanging on to this much anger... it's weird. What's wrong?_ "

Khrai's scowl had faded somewhat as she directed her attention to the table, her expression somber. Kaisuki waited patiently, understanding fully that, out of the three of them, Khrai was the least likely to tell her anything about how she was faring. Khrai didn't seem to trust much of anyone with herself, and while the Yurei was a little disappointed that she hadn't yet earned the elf's trust, she didn't press. Khrai was also the most likely to lash out violently when she was angry, and her fury gave Kaisuki the _worst_ headaches.

" _I guess I forgot how pissed off I was at him,_ " the blonde elf finally said after a long pause. " _I really liked Itachi. He was a sweetheart, and I could see how miserable he was. I thought... I thought that maybe, when you were older, you'd become a pillar of support for him. He's never really had that._ " She let out an irate huff. " _And then he goes and murders his entire family, lies about why he did it, and then traumatizes his little brother to the point of being beyond help._ "

Kaisuki nodded, thinking over Khrai's words and staring at the elf's clenched fist where it sat on the table. A pillar of support for Itachi? " _Well,_ " the Yurei slowly began. " _In this situation, I don't know how supportive we can be, all things considered._ _ **But**_ _,_ " she looked up at Khrai, who was watching her carefully. " _I think that the longer we stick around, the more Itachi might be willing to open up a little. I... don't know what kind of person he's really turned out to be, but he didn't decide to kill me the instant I revealed who I was. So far as I know, he still hasn't decided to kill me. I don't want to say that we should trust him, but I will say that we should give him the benefit of the doubt._ "

Khrai nodded silently. " _Why is he such a dick now?_ " She muttered.

" _I don't think he believes the story about Teara,_ " Kaisuki conceded with a sigh. " _I would bet you anything you like that he thinks that we made it up in an effort to worm our way into his life. And following up the Teara story that he didn't believe with Izumi's diagnosis probably didn't help our cause._ "

" _At least Kisame has some fucking sense,_ " the elf muttered heatedly. " _Do you think he believes us about Teara?_ "

The Yurei nodded in reply. " _I do. He was very attentive when Saeka was talking to them about it._ "

Khrai hummed thoughtfully. She already looked less irritated. Kaisuki glanced towards the door, wishing that Saeka would come back. She looked back over at Khrai, who was still staring at the table, and sighed heavily. The noise attracted the elf's attention, and she looked up and met Kaisuki's gaze.

" _What?_ " She wanted to know as she raised an eyebrow.

Kaisuki smiled, suddenly feeling extremely tired. " _I think you should go look for Saeka._ "

Khrai stared at her for a long time before a frown settled on her face. She looked down at her hand where it was resting on the table for a moment before she replied. " _I will. I figured I'd give her a little more time before I went out to find her._ "

The younger of the two of them nodded. " _Saeka's your favorite, isn't she?_ " She asked curiously, a sly smile appearing on her face. Khrai looked up at her and blinked, looking surprised. After a moment, her expression softened and she sighed lightly.

" _She is, yea._ " The blonde conceded, sounding only slightly embarrassed. " _I dunno, I... get really attached to the broken ones._ "

Kaisuki's eyebrows rose. " _Oh? This has happened before?_ "

" _It's happened a lot over the past... I dunno, eight hundred years or so? I... met someone a very long time ago. He was fragile and weak and kind of a mess, and I..._ " Khrai trailed off into silence, her expression sobering.

The quietness lasted a good two minutes. Khrai looked as though she debating telling her hostess something. Judging by the tempest of emotions in her eyes, Kaisuki could figure that it was probably something she didn't normally tell people.

Finally, after the pause had reached about three minutes, Kaisuki spoke, " _You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable with it, Khrai. We've only known each other for a couple of years, after all._ "

The elf smiled, every feature of her face suddenly lined with exhaustion. Kaisuki had never seen her look quite so tired. " _You're a good kid, Kaisuki. I really appreciate you. I haven't been with a Yurei I liked in a couple hundred years._ "

Kaisuki felt her cheeks heat up at the praise, and she had to resist the urge to hide her face. " _Thanks for the compliment,_ " she mumbled.

Khrai laughed, " _Anytime, you dorky dumpling._ "

" _Hey, don't judge me. I'm weird about praise._ " Kaisuki giggled in response. " _Also, 'dorky dumpling?' What the hell kind of name is that?_ "

" _It's_ _ **your**_ _name, is what it is._ " The elf teased, pulling a more genuine laugh out of her hostess.

Before they could continue their banter, the door to the kotatsu room opened and Izumi stepped inside. She saw the two of them and smiled at them in greeting, sitting down at the end of the table closest to the door. " _Itachi-kun is back from his walk,_ " she stated. " _He's running a slight fever._ "

Kaisuki nodded, her good humor fading into the background. " _How're his lungs?_ "

" _He said he had another fit while he was out, but only the one._ " Izumi replied. " _I gave him a dose of the lacelle, and I'm going to start the rest of his medications tomorrow morning._ "

" _How did you grow those plants so fast, anyway?_ " Kaisuki suddenly wanted to know. " _I've never seen anything like it before._ "

The irou-nin smiled, " _In the Shinobi Nations, I suppose it would be called a kekkai genkai. Where I come from, we're called druids._ " Izumi explained. Kaisuki listened attentively, while Khrai simply observed the interaction. The Yurei wouldn't have been surprised if the blonde had already known about it. " _My heritage grants me exceptional closeness to the intricate workings of nature, and the ability to create any plant-life with nothing but soil. Almost all of us druids became irou-nin, as our ability to generate plant-life made it very convenient._ "

" _That's amazing,_ " Kaisuki said softly, eyes wide. " _What is it? Dorui... Doria...?_ "

" _Druid_ ," Izumi corrected with a chuckle. " _There were a lot of us when I was coming up. I don't know if that's changed. I haven't been home in a very long time._ "

The red-eyed girl nodded, fascinated. " _That's badass. Just sayin'._ "

" _Well,_ " Khrai suddenly spoke up with a sigh. " _Sorry to cut this short, but I gotta go find Saeka. I'll see you two later._ "

Kaisuki and Izumi nodded in unison, " _Yea, for sure. Good luck._ " Kaisuki replied. Khrai nodded curtly at the two of them and left the room, the door swinging shut harshly on it's own.

The Yurei yawned widely and slowly stood up, " _I'm gonna go try to get some sleep._ " She told Izumi, and the brunette smiled and nodded.

" _Good night, then, Kaisuki. I hope you get some sleep tonight._ "

Kaisuki smiled back at her, " _Thanks, Izumi. I'll try. Good night._ "

She stepped out into the cool darkness and started down the path that she knew would take her to the reigns of her body, and within only a few minutes she was back in the front seat. She let herself settle back into her own body, keeping her eyes closed even though she wasn't sleeping yet, and shifted slightly to make herself a little more comfortable. Khrai, Izumi, and Saeka (if she was found) would be able to keep their senses alert in case something happened or someone was nearby.

She let herself sink into a doze. It'd been a long time since she'd been able to rest as deeply as she wanted to. Usually, her body would get to sleep but her spirit would be exhausted. When normal people slept, their soul and mind got to rest as much as their body did. But with a Yurei, the person would be that much more in control of their spirit and their inner landscapes, so they could keep their soul awake while their body slept.

Unfortunately, Kaisuki rarely let her soul sleep because she was always talking to her spirits. She didn't mind too much, but it meant that she was chronically tired. If her soul was still doing things, it meant her mind wasn't resting, and that in turn meant that her body wasn't getting to sleep as deeply as it was supposed to.

She was basically a spiritual insomniac, on top of being a regular insomniac.

"...-ou're worried about her. Any particular reason why?"

And, of course, being a chronic insomniac often made it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep.

"I'm not _worried_ about her," she recognized Itachi's voice, which meant that the first one had to have been Kisame. She hadn't been quite present enough to really identify him by the sound of his voice. "She's a liability."

"You don't know that yet, Itachi-san." Kisame replied, sounding very annoyed. "She's a Yurei. Yurei were used for hundreds of years as weapons in war, and that was against their will. Most didn't live to be twenty. We have one of the last few Yurei in the entire Shinobi Nations _willingly on our side_ , and all you can think about is how she might become a hindrance. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering just how useful she's going to make herself."

Itachi didn't reply for a long time. Long enough that Kaisuki was falling back asleep before he finally responded, his voice quiet and his tone uninterpretable. "You seem to really like her."

"She's interesting, but..."

She wanted to keep listening, but she really needed to rest. So she let her mind float away from awareness and sink into the cool darkness of her inner landscape. She could faintly hear Khrai calling for Saeka, but she ignored it, instead concentrating on the darkness that surrounded her.

It was only a few extra minutes before she managed to quiet her mind enough to block out everything going on around her, and only seconds after that before she managed to slip into a deeper-than-usual doze.

_Fuck you, Itachi. At least your partner has some sense._


	3. trust issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I totally forgot to post this yesterday, haha. At least I remembered, right?

He was surprised that neither Itachi nor Kisame stirred when Kaisuki slowly sat up, bracing herself on one arm and rubbing her eyes with the other. Madara watched her carefully and curiously, waiting to see who it was that had woken the Yurei up.

The girl glanced over at Kisame with bright blue eyes and then directed her gaze over to Itachi, her expression settling on a scowl. For a moment, Madara wondered if she was going to kill the two of them in their sleep, but then she peered around in the darkness for a moment and stood up, brushing herself off and not looking towards them again. Itachi and Kisame still didn't stir, and Madara couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with them. Normally, it didn't matter how slightly one of them moved, the other would rouse from their doze instantly to investigate whatever noise had been made.

Khrai stepped around the tree that Kaisuki had been laying beside and headed off into the darkness. Madara considered trying to wake Itachi, but decided against it. Instead, he followed after her, deciding that he'd report back to Itachi whatever he discovered. From there, the living Uchiha could make an appropriate decision on what to do about whatever it was Khrai was doing. Assuming anything needed to be done.

The blue-eyed spirit stalked through the trees and underbrush with purpose, appearing to know exactly where she was going. Either Saeka was directing her or she was also a sensory-type. It was most likely that Saeka was directing her. The only question was: what was Saeka directing her to? And was Kaisuki aware of what was going on?

Madara frowned as he trailed behind Khrai, listening carefully to any sounds of any sort. The forests in Hi no Kuni were pretty quiet at night, especially as late as it was. Even the crickets were sleeping, and there weren't any owls in the southernmost parts of the country.

When they were about ten minutes out, Khrai lifted Kaisuki's hands and moved them through a few hand seals. Madara instantly recognized the pattern, as he'd seen it a few times before when Izumi had needed to grow plants out of nothing but soil. A white flurry of light wrapped around Kaisuki's body momentarily, and when it cleared, a stunningly beautiful blonde was standing there.

For a lengthy couple of minutes, Madara stood there and stared at her. Her hair was _ridiculously_ long and it looked extremely thick, but the way she wore it didn't hide her pointed ears. His mind was reeling. Was that some kind of body modification, or were her ears _naturally_ like that? What kind of creature had ears like that? All he could think of were the kinds of things he had read about when he was a child. Tales of the fair folk, lore about demons and angels, and exciting epics about adventures and monsters.

" _What the_ _ **fuck**_ _are you supposed to be?_ " Madara breathed, astounded. There were very few creatures in lore that had pointed ears - demons came to mind right away, but he couldn't recall any of the others.

_"Konohagakure, eh? I'll be sure to tear it down for you."_

_"_ _**Don't you dare! Get back here or I swear I'll** _ _ **fucking** _ _**kill you! Hey! GET BACK HERE!!** _ _"_

He'd had a fascination with the concept of demons from the Underworld when he'd been younger, but those illustrations had featured beasts that could hardly be described as humanoid, and this woman wasn't like that. The only thing inhuman about her were her ears.

After Khrai had resumed her brisk pace, they walked for probably another half an hour before Madara spotted a faint light through the trees. It looked like a campfire. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he glanced over at Khrai. Her scowl had darkened as she continued to approach, making no effort at all to conceal her presence.

Part of him sort of wanted to hurry back to Itachi so he could wake the living Uchiha up and inform him that Khrai was behaving somewhat suspiciously. At the same time, however, he wanted to trust Kaisuki, and that meant trusting her spirits. He didn't know what they were up to. It was possible that she was getting backup so she could take Itachi's head off his shoulders (like she said she wanted to), but she could also be doing reconnaissance. Or perhaps that was Teara, and she was going to go try to chase him off.

He continued to follow her, deciding it would be best to see what she was actually up to. If it was something terrible, he could get back to Itachi faster than she could. He'd have plenty of time to warn the kid.

Madara glanced at her briefly, frowning again, before he looked back towards the light. It wasn't very much further, and by that point he could figure that she was definitely heading for it. So, he started jogging towards it, his non-corporeal body moving seamlessly and noiselessly through the shrubbery. At the last line of bushes, he found himself in a very small clearing inhabited by six different people.

None of them were wearing their hitai-ate, and four of them looked like criminals themselves with their ruggedness and scars. The six of them were standing silently and looking through the trees that Madara had just walked through. Their hands were hovering over kunai pouches and the hilts of swords and axes, and they definitely looked ready for battle.

He could clearly hear Khrai's noisy approach through the shrubbery, and he couldn't help feeling a bit on the nervous side. He had no idea how strong she was. He didn't know if she was getting herself into something she wouldn't be able to get herself back out of. He didn't know whether or not she'd be able to take on the six of them. She didn't have a single weapon on her, and the six men standing around the campfire were armed to the teeth. Khrai could potentially get Kaisuki killed if she wasn't a friend of the sketchy guys she was walking towards.

" _And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it, as usual._ " Madara bitterly stated, knowing that no one could hear him.

The sound of Khrai's approaching footsteps became ever louder, until she tore her way through the last line of bushes, never once looking down to watch where she was stepping. He watched her eyes skirt over the six faces, sizing them up. Her expression darkened, but her posture remained non-threatening. Nothing about her suggested that she was worried about getting killed. Madara could only hope that she could back up her confidence with skill.

"And what's a pretty lil' thing like yourself doin' out here in the dark?" One of the men asked, his hand resting lazily on his katana. "S'not really safe out here, ya' know."

The look on Khrai's face turned murderous in an instant, but she still didn't so much as clench her fists. "I'm only going to ask you this once, and I expect you to give me a straight answer," she practically growled. "You've been following Itachi and Kisame for a little over a week now. Are you stalking them so you can kill them and collect on their bounty?"

Madara stared at Khrai. He couldn't get a read on her outside of how obviously she despised the six men. She didn't act cocky at all. There was no arrogance about her. It wasn't that she thought she was stronger than them, but rather that she _knew_ she was stronger than them. He hadn't seen her in a fight before. He hadn't even seen how she behaved in the face of any kind of a threat.

Izumi came forward pretty often, and Saeka popped up once in a while to tell them that they needed to steer clear of a group of people or something. Khrai, however, _never_ showed up. The only time Madara had seen her was the day Kaisuki had shown up for the first time, when Itachi had managed to anger the blonde. She seemed to be inclined to not involve herself outside of talking to Kaisuki, Saeka, and Izumi. She hadn't even shown herself to yell at Itachi again as of yet.

And sure, it had only been a little over two weeks, but it wasn't like Itachi was being much less cold towards Kaisuki and Izumi. Saeka didn't stick around long enough to get any of the living Uchiha's passive-aggressive hostility.

The one who had spoken before - their apparent leader - blinked, looking slightly surprised. Then, his eyes narrowed and his hand loosely wrapped around the hilt of the katana. "What, are you tryin' to cash in their lives too? Because that's gonna be a bit of a problem, miss."

Madara scowled at the man. If Khrai butchered them, he was going to cheer.

Khrai snorted, "Hell no. I'm traveling with them." she told them without a hint of hesitation. "I was going to let you go if you politely fucked off and never came back, but your attitude is pissing me off so I'm gonna have to kill all of you."

"Kill _all_ of us?" Another one of the men ( _scumbags_ ) spoke up with a laugh. "Who the fuck are you, anyway?"

Khrai didn't reply at first, simply turned slightly where she stood and stepped into a stance Madara had never seen before. Her right arm was held up in front of her as a guard, while her left was lowered but already in position to swing at any moment.

"It really doesn't matter," she finally replied icily, her fists clenched tightly and her eyes narrowing.

He couldn't imagine where she'd learned the stance she was in, or how she expected it to be helpful against the very sharp objects she would be up against, but he supposed that she had to be smart enough to know when she was outmatched.

" _Which has to mean that you're not outmatched, right?_ " He pondered aloud.

"You cocky bitch," the leader laughed. "Alright then, fine. Let's show 'er a good time, yea?"

Before they could finish laughing condescendingly, Khrai crouched slightly, angling herself forward and launched herself at the nearest of the six men. Madara watched, eyes widening steadily, as she reared back with her left arm and swung with speed and precision that could only be the product of _years_ (or centuries) of experience and practice.

Her fist connected with the side of the first man's head and, with a nauseating ripping sound that split through the air, his head was torn clear off his shoulders and sent smashing into a tree with enough force to shatter the skull and crack the wood.

Madara stared with wide eyes at the fresh corpse as it collapsed limply to the ground and the blonde woman who had killed him. The other men were frozen in a mixture of shock and fear that shone clearly in their eyes, and Khrai wasn't even done moving. She spun around and took one large step forward, slamming her fist into another guy's face. There was a sickening crunch as his skull collapsed under the immense weight of Khrai's blow, and another one fell.

In less than ten seconds, Khrai had killed two of them. They hadn't even been given time to so much as _think_ about attacking first. Out of the remaining four, three of them looked ready to fight, while the last one looked like he was prepared to make a run for it. The two that were apparently morons attacked simultaneously, one loosing several kunai and the other moving forward right behind them. The blonde killing machine crouched down low to avoid the kunai, dodging out of the way of the katana swinging at her from the right.

Upon righting herself back into her original crouch and without a second of hesitation, Khrai sprang back up, swinging up as she went. This time, her fist connected with her opponent's chin. There was an audible sound, one that Madara couldn't even have described in words: the sound of an internal decapitation. The body flew several feet into the air. The fifth man hesitated for only a split second before he rushed forward in a panic, swinging wildly.

Much like a cornered rat.

The blonde easily sidestepped the onslaught of attacks, grabbing the man's wrist in the middle of one of his swings and driving her right fist into his elbow, dislocating the joint. He howled in pain, stumbling backwards and clutching his arm. Khrai grabbed a handful of his hair and drove her knee into his face with another blood-curdling crunch.

The sixth man was staring with wide, terrified eyes at the carnage that had been wrought right in front of him. The blonde woman turned her attention towards him, her gaze smoldering, and he visibly flinched, panicked, turned on his heel, and took off at a dead sprint.

Madara watched, awestruck, as Khrai reared back her left fist and swung yet again, very clearly aiming for the retreating back. There were no hand seals involved at all. All he saw was a glow that started near her elbow and got only brighter and brighter as it rushed towards her knuckles.

The guy she was aiming at was probably about fifteen feet away, not yet obscured by the trees, when a blast of bright white light shot out of Khrai's knuckles. It moved far faster than the guy was running, and Madara observed with wide eyes as the energy blast tore a hole clear through his back and kept going until it dissipated into the darkness.

His mouth was open, and he quickly closed it as he turned his attention back to the blonde he'd accompanied. She looked around at the corpses that surrounded her, walking over and crouching down beside their evident leader. She rummaged around in his kunai pouch and pulled out a small book - a BINGO book. She nonchalantly flipped through the pages, until she reached the one featuring Uchiha Itachi's face.

She dipped her finger into the blood-soaked soil beside her, drawing an 'X' over Itachi's picture and laying the open book face-down on the leader's corpse. Then, Khrai stood up and glanced around. For a moment, Madara forgot that she couldn't see him, and he stiffened automatically as her eyes skirted over the area where he was standing.

Of course, she couldn't see him, so she didn't react at all to his presence there. Khrai picked her way over the bodies and started back the way she'd come, her hands moving through seals again. With another flash of light, Kaisuki's body was back.

Madara walked with her back to the campsite in uncharacteristic silence. He swallowed hard to wet his dry throat, the pulse of his soul beating fast and hard like a living person's heart would. Even though his body was non-corporeal, he still experienced fear and horror the way a living person would. He experienced joy and anger and sadness and all of it exactly the same as he had when he'd been alive.

The level of carnage he had just witnessed wasn't something he'd never seen before. He'd been on bloodier battlefields. He'd watched Itachi slaughter his way through his whole family. He'd liked to think that he'd seen it all, but apparently he hadn't. What was freaking him out wasn't the brutality, or the amount of blood spilled.

It was the fact that Khrai had _completely_ removed a man's head with a single blow, and from the look of her muscles as she swung, Madara could tell that she hadn't been using her full strength. No human in the Shinobi Nations could take off a person's head with one _fist_. There were many who could kill someone with one solid punch to the temple. The current Raikage, Kisame, and Tsunade were only a couple that came to mind right away.

But none of them could remove a person's head with _one_ punch, without the use of chakra to amplify strength. That wasn't within the limits of the human body. It just wasn't. It wasn't even conceivable in Madara's head, and yet Khrai had done that and much, _much_ more.

_"Just like I don't_ _**need** _ _to take your head off your fucking shoulders, even though I_ _**really** _ _want to."_

Khrai hadn't been bluffing. She would've actually removed Itachi's head with a single punch, and Kisame wouldn't have been able to stop her. She could almost definitely kill him with as much effort as she'd put into killing those bounty hunters.

Madara looked up to gauge how far they were from the campsite. He was definitely going to have to tell Itachi what he'd just witnessed. It was probably pretty important that the living Uchiha know exactly what Khrai was capable of. They already knew she had a short temper from her very brief outburst the day Kaisuki had first shown up.

Thinking of how close Itachi had been to _dying_ that day was stressing him out.

He glanced over at Khrai when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and saw that she was examining the knuckles on Kaisuki's left hand. They were torn up pretty bad and bleeding freely, and what Madara could see of her forearm was bruised extensively. The woman frowned and sighed, reaching into Kaisuki's kunai pouch and pulling out a roll of gauze, which she used to loosely wrap the bleeding appendage.

They walked in silence for another twenty minutes before they stepped around the tree that Kaisuki had been sleeping against, returning to the clearing. Itachi and Kisame were staring at Khrai, who's blue eyes settling on Itachi momentarily, flashing green for just a second before returning to blue. Madara walked over to the living Uchiha and sat down beside him and leaned against him.

" _We need to talk,_ " he said immediately. " _And before you jump to a stupid conclusion, they're_ _ **not**_ _conspiring against you two._ "

Itachi didn't let the tension in his shoulders relax, instead continuing to watch Khrai as she sat down and leaned back against the tree. "What'd I miss?" The woman asked nonchalantly, "Nothing good, I hope."

Kisame snorted, but Madara could hear the lack of humor in his voice. "Well, Itachi-san had another two fits and I thought I saw a light somewhere out in the woods."

Khrai raised her eyebrows, looking slightly surprised, before her expression shifted back to a scowl. There was a pause, and Madara observed as Itachi and Kisame stared at Khrai, whose eyes suddenly turned green, and then pink, and then green, and then blue, and then pink, and then blue, and then green, before settling back on blue. She cleared her throat and let out a noisy, irritated sigh.

"Something wrong?" Itachi asked darkly.

"Fuck you both," Khrai snapped, losing her temper instantly. "I swear, you're both such motherfucking-..." She stopped herself, fists clenching as she glared an unfair amount of hatred at Itachi and ground her teeth together. Then, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, they were green.

"Sorry," Izumi apologized. "Khrai's... well, it's complicated," she sheepishly explained, carefully unwrapping Khrai's messy bandaging job.

"Where were you?" Itachi flatly asked. Madara sighed loudly, but decided it would probably be best if Izumi told the kid where they were, and the deceased Uchiha simply verified it.

Izumi smiled slightly. "Still paranoid, I see," she said with a chuckle. "There was a group of six bounty hunters that had been tailing the two of you for about a week. Saeka led Khrai to them, and Khrai killed them all. She's our go-to when the situation calls for concealing our identity, in case someone gets away."

As she finished her explanation, the bandages on her hand fell to the ground, revealing the bruising and torn up flesh on Kaisuki's hand. Madara straightened up and glanced at Itachi and then Kisame, seeing that they were both staring at the fresh injury.

" _She's not lying,_ " Madara stated, still feeling a bit jittery. " _I promise you, that's exactly what happened. I'll give you the juicy details later. Whatever you do or say in the meantime, do not, I repeat,_ _ **do not**_ _piss off Khrai._ "

Itachi didn't look over at him, but Madara felt the tension in his shoulders relax somewhat.

"That looks pretty bad." Kisame commented, sounding much more relaxed. At least _he_ trusted Izumi's word.

Izumi rolled up Kaisuki's one sleeve, revealing the dark bruising that went halfway up her bicep. "This is the result of Khrai using her chakra," the irou-nin explained as she went to work repairing the damage. "It's highly corrosive, so when she releases it in a concentrated blast, it eats through everything between it and it's target. Any injuries we sustain while using the zenshin kirikae get transferred to Kaisuki's body."

"That sounds pretty inconvenient," Kisame replied simply. Izumi chuckled, but didn't reply, and the conversation lapsed.

Madara sighed, leaning on Itachi's shoulder again. " _Should we go for a walk now, or wait until nightfall?_ "

When the living Uchiha didn't reply and didn't make a move to get up, Madara knew that they wouldn't be going anywhere until nightfall. And that made sense, because Itachi had something akin to a routine when they were on the road - he went for a walk almost every night. Kisame had never asked about it, and neither of them had any reason to imagine that Kaisuki or her spirits would.

If Itachi went off in the early morning, Kisame would know (or assume, at least) that something was wrong. Which was inconvenient, because Madara wasn't sure if he'd be able to muster the same kind of excited emotion if he had to put off the storytelling until nighttime.

" _Okay then,_ " he thought aloud, as he always did.

Itachi ignored him, as per protocol.

...

Eventually, she was going to have to come clean about the _actual_ number of bounty hunters Khrai had killed in cold blood for her hostess, but Kaisuki wasn't sure when that time was going to be.

There was no way for the murders to be traced back to her and her spirits, and she knew that. Khrai's fingerprints weren't in any registry, nor was her blood. The crimes couldn't be pinned on Itachi either, because he wasn't physically strong enough to do that kind of a damage to a person. Even if word of the murders got back to Konohagakure, she could easily assure herself that no one would suspect her. She hadn't stopped writing periodic letters home, and she had gone back a couple of times over the past two years.

No one back home would suspect her of such a heinous crime.

It wasn't like she was killing them just because she felt like it, either. She was protecting Itachi. She had been for a while. His state of health had come to her attention the prior year, and ever since then she'd been doing everything in her abilities to keep danger away from him. Izumi had explained how easily one of his episodes could be triggered, and she had explained how dangerous said episodes were.

So, Kaisuki and her spirits had taken it upon themselves to keep Itachi out of battle as much as possible, and that meant killing all of the bounty hunters that came upon his trail. She didn't want him to die on her. She wanted him to live just as much as she wanted Sasuke to live. She wanted him to tell her the truth about the massacre just as much as she wanted Sasuke to explain why he had left Konohagakure. She wanted them both to stop lying, and stop doing the stupid things they were doing, and stop being cold and heartless. She wanted them both to turn back into the inseparable brothers that they had been, and she wanted to be a part of that family. She wanted to expand that family.

All Kaisuki really wanted was a way to bring them back home.

The best thing she could do to make that goal possible was to make sure neither of them died. Sasuke was under Orochimaru's protection, so she wasn't particularly worried about him. She'd gone to Otogakure a couple of times trying to find Teara, and each time Saeka had assured her that Sasuke was alive and well and stronger than ever.

But Itachi's failing health wasn't something that he could be protected from at a distance. She couldn't exactly have gone to his irou-nin and asked him to refer Itachi to Izumi. It wouldn't even have worked, because of the frequency she needed to see him. She had had no other options outside of just letting him die, and there was no way that was going to happen.

She hadn't actually expected Kisame-san to agree to let her travel with them. She was endlessly thankful that the swordsman cared enough about his partner to force him into accepting Izumi's treatment. She couldn't help but wonder if that relationship went both ways, even though it was totally none of her business. Itachi came across as nothing but aloof at best, but Kisame-san seemed to hold him in high regard, and she was sure that the Uchiha had to have earned that respect and consideration.

A loud screech startled her out of her thoughts, and she glanced skyward to identify the sound. A hawk was circling overhead, dropping lower and lower with each round. She couldn't tell if it was a hawk from Konohagakure or Akatsuki. They all looked pretty similar to her, but she knew that they were trained to land only on the intended target.

Apparently, however, Kisame-san recognized the hawk as it came closer, because he stopped walking rather abruptly and raised an arm just as it was coming around it's last circle. Once it had landed safely on his arm (which Kaisuki found slightly amazing, as she knew how sharp a hawk's talons were), the swordsman untied the string and pulled the message that had been attached to it's leg free. The hawk ruffled it's feathers a little, which prompted Kisame-san to raise his arm up so it could take off without hitting him with it's wings.

It took off and Kisame-san unrolled the scroll as they started walking again. Kaisuki watched him for a moment before looking back ahead of herself, wondering if Itachi's eyes had gotten to the point that he couldn't read very well anymore. Izumi had noticed that his eyes were going (though Kaisuki had no idea how she'd been able to tell), and when she had asked him about it directly, the Uchiha had admitted that his vision was definitely on its way out.

He had told her that he expected to be blind in about another year and a half, maybe two. Izumi hadn't examined his eyes, as that wasn't part of her job as his irou-nin, but she'd offered to see if there was anything she could do to slow to progression of his fading eyesight. He'd declined (naturally), and had assured her that he'd let her know if he changed her mind.

"We have an escort to do," Kisame-san stated, glancing at Itachi. "Starting in Keishi."

The Uchiha hummed in acknowledgment, but didn't say anything at first. Then, he glanced over at Kaisuki, who was walking a step back between him and Kisame-san. "Kuroi will find you when we're done."

" _Seems like he's gotten over how mad he is that we're traveling with them,_ " Khrai commented suddenly, surprising Kaisuki. She hadn't heard from her spirits all day. Khrai had been resting and Izumi and Saeka had been looking after her in the kotatsu room, so they'd been very quiet all afternoon.

" _Feeling better?_ " Kaisuki inquired, to which Khrai hummed an affirmative. Then, in response to Itachi, she replied, "Yea, of course."

" _How long are they going to take?_ " Izumi asked, " _I need to give Itachi enough of his meds to last him while we're not around._ "

"Izumi needs to know how long you think you're gonna be busy," the Yurei obediently passed along the message. "So she can give you enough of your meds to last you through your mission."

Kisame-san hummed thoughtfully as he slowed to a stop again, glancing back down at the scroll in his hands and rereading it. "Probably... Well, I'd give him a ten day supply, just to be safe. I don't expect this to take more than a week, but shit happens."

Kaisuki nodded, pulling back from her control and glancing back at Izumi, " _You wanna take over and do your thing?_ "

The brunette standing behind her nodded, and Kaisuki let go of the reigns and stepped back so Izumi could take over. She turned her attention away from what was going on outside of her mind, looking over at the blonde elf beside her.

" _Where's Saeka?_ " She asked curiously, glancing around. Khrai looked down at her briefly before shrugging.

" _She's off doing whatever she does._ " Khrai replied somewhat distractedly. " _She's having a bad day, I gather._ "

Kaisuki frowned, " _Any particular reason why?_ "

" _Not a clue, but probably not,_ " was the reply the elf gave. " _She hasn't been very talkative lately anyway, so I'm gonna assume she wants to be left alone. If she wants us for something, she'll tell us._ " Khrai paused, and sighed. "S _he's just having a bad time. She'll come out of it eventually, like she always does._ "

Kaisuki nodded silently, but didn't say anything further in reply. Khrai was right. Saeka had started having periods of what seemed like some kind of emotional regression since Kaisuki had started tailing Teara. She would return to the mostly quiet, very moody, easily enraged girl that her hostess had known when she was younger. When the youngest spirit got like that, she would either isolate herself by being silent and inconspicuous or disappear into Kaisuki's memories altogether. The episodes sometimes lasted as long as a week (with two weeks being the record), but usually the other three spirits found that Saeka would return to her normal self within a couple of days.

So, she didn't worry. None of them did. Saeka had mood swings with the best of them, and Izumi, Khrai, and Kaisuki knew very well that trying to manually bring her out of her bad moods would do more harm than good. It was better for them to just leave her alone when she wasn't in a good place, and reassure her that they still adored her when she came out of those episodes.

" _Kaisuki_ ," Izumi's voice drew her out of her thoughts, and she looked up in time to see the brunette glancing back at her, " _You can take over, now._ "

The Yurei nodded and stepped up to take back control over her body, blinking twice to refocus her vision. The two Akatsuki members were watching her while she settled back in. "Well, you guys are headed south from here, and I'm heading west to go home for a visit, so I'll see you later." She said, taking a few steps westward. "I'll be waiting to hear from you. Be safe."

Kisame-san grinned at her, "You too, Kaisuki. Stay out of trouble."

She beamed, "You should know by now that _that's_ impossible." She retorted with a wink, before looking over at Itachi. "Take care of yourself. Don't miss any doses. And don't lie to Kisame-san if you don't feel well."

Itachi sighed softly, looking very tired of her concern with his welfare. "Give Izumi my thanks." He replied stonily, pointedly not commenting on her requests (that had come out more like commands). She smiled widely and nodded, before leaping up onto a tree branch.

Kaisuki didn't bother to glance back and properly bid them farewell, knowing that it was unnecessary. Instead, she took off into the trees, in the direction she knew Konohagakure was. As she was leaping through the branches at a leisurely pace (for her, anyway), she wondered offhandedly if Itachi and Kisame-san would miss her in her absence. She wasn't sure about Itachi, but she and Kisame-san had hit it off pretty well.

Despite the fact that he was notorious for his cruelty and bloodlust, Kaisuki quite liked the swordsman. Whether it was true or not, she had come to the conclusion on her own that his cruel streak was somewhat of a facade that he put on during battle, or whenever else it was necessary. She just didn't think that someone as pleasant and fun to talk to as Kisame-san could be quite as horrible as everyone said he was.

Obviously he wasn't a "good guy." He worked for a criminal organization, which made him a criminal by default. He was a professional killer, and he'd most certainly killed more people than he could remember. He'd threatened to cut off Naruto's legs when he and Itachi had gone to retrieve him (for reasons Kaisuki still didn't know). He was one of the more awful products of Kirigakure's merciless academy program. He was known across the Shinobi Nations as one of the most ruthless swordsmen, even amongst the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

But those titles, those methods of description, didn't tell the story of how much he cared for his partner, Uchiha Itachi. There were no people who would recall Hoshigaki Kisame as thoughtful and witty. No one was going to know about how he had given more thought to Kaisuki's safety and future wellbeing as a tag-along to two well-known S-rank criminals than the Yurei herself. Nobody knew of the moral code that he used to hold himself accountable for the terrible things he did. No one would ever know that he did feel remorse for his victims and guilt for his actions.

No one outside of Itachi and Kaisuki would ever know that he had wanted to leave Kirigakure from an early age and make himself into the kind of man he could be proud of.

She'd only known him for a little under five months, but in that amount of time, she had really gotten to know him. Itachi remained as distant and cold as ever, but Kisame-san genuinely liked Kaisuki. He seemed to really trust her, and that had allowed him to open up to her in a lot of ways she never would've expected. He had told her many times that he truly appreciated how willing she was to help two of the most infamous criminals in the Shinobi Nations, despite the fact that they had threatened and mentally scarred two of her closest friends. He didn't seem to want to let her forget that she wasn't tied to them permanently, and that if she ever wanted an out, he would give it to her.

Kisame-san was cruel and heartless to the people he didn't care about, but to those that mattered to him, he was considerate and kind. She hoped that, as time went on, she would get to know him even better, and that he would get to know her just as well. As she had told him the day she'd met him, Izumi had taught her over the last two years to be compassionate to everyone, no matter their background.

_"It doesn't matter what they've done, or who they've hurt, or what laws they've broken. Treat everyone with compassion, Kaisuki; you never know when you'll change someone's life."_

Izumi was always teaching her profound life lessons that she did her best to live by. Khrai was always giving her the best possible battlefield advice and teaching her more about everything she wanted to know than any book ever could. Saeka taught her patience and kindness in ways that a conversation with Izumi couldn't. She was thankful for all three of them, possibly more than they knew.

She hoped that she was teaching them something as well. Even if it was something as small as a new way to hold kunai, or a better method of grinding up herbs. She hoped that she would leave a lasting impression on them after the four of them had split up, as they inevitably would.

Although, despite knowing that it was completely impossible, she hoped that somehow, some way, they would be able to stick together.

Kaisuki faintly felt Khrai stepping back from where she'd been observing and disappearing into the darkness of her inner landscapes, softly humming a sad song that the Yurei still didn't know. There was a slight ache in her chest, a feeling sort of like the urge to cry. At the same time, even deeper within and just barely within her awareness, there was a dark anger simmering threateningly.

She didn't know what had happened to trigger Khrai into a sour mood, but she knew better than to inquire after the elf's wellbeing so soon after she noticed. If Khrai wanted to talk to her, she would. And if she didn't, she wouldn't.

If there was one thing she had learned from her interactions with her oldest and youngest spirits, it was the knowledge of when to let it lie.

...

Kaisuki's absence was strongly felt almost the instant she was gone.

Kisame had gotten fairly used to her being around in a very short period of time, much to Itachi's incredibly obvious annoyance. She was a good kid with a quiet presence. She didn't talk a whole lot unless a conversation arose out of something that was happening in the moment, and if said conversation trailed away into silence, she didn't try to fill it. She actually had a lot of personality features in common with Itachi. He supposed that had to be one of the reasons he was getting along with her so well.

Itachi also seemed to have gotten fairly used to her being around, though it showed in smaller, less noticeable ways. He wasn't as moody as he'd been the first day. He wasn't glaring as often. He seemed to have resigned himself to his fate. He also seemed to have decided that he kind of liked Izumi, though Kisame was sure he would _never_ admit it.

Itachi still didn't seem to trust the girl and her spirits very much, and he most certainly hadn't developed any form of affection for them, but he got along well with Izumi. Kisame wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Itachi would eventually start to get along with Kaisuki. He had been much the same with his blue-haired partner when they'd first met, and they'd managed to find companionship in one another. If Kaisuki stuck around, Itachi would get over it.

He had a feeling she was in it for... at least somewhat of a long run. She had killed six bounty hunters for them. Kisame had no idea where the decision to do _that_ had come from, but he was thankful for it. The fewer times Itachi wound up in battle, the better for his health.

Kisame had given it a bit of thought and he had come to find that, despite what he'd initially told Kaisuki, he and Itachi hadn't actually encountered any bounty hunters in a little over a year. He didn't really think it was the case, but he couldn't help wondering if she'd been keeping bounty hunters off their trail for that amount of time. She said she had been tailing Teara, and therefore inadvertently tailing the two Akatsuki members, for about two years.

Kaisuki _might_ (emphasis on the "might") have been keeping a closer eye on them than she'd implied, for a lot longer than Kisame had originally suspected. And he still didn't really know the whole story behind it. He knew she was doing it for Itachi, but that wasn't a whole lot of information and it didn't make a whole lot of sense, considering all that his partner had done. He couldn't imagine what Itachi must have done to earn such a place in someone's heart, but it wasn't like he'd known the guy his whole life. Supposedly, Uchiha Itachi had been a decent person at one point.

Then again, all of them had been decent people at one point.

"Kisame," Itachi's voice reached him over the noise of the busy streets of Keishi, and he glanced over at his partner. Immediately, he noticed that Itachi's lips were tinted purple and his face was whiter than he'd seen it in a long time. "I can't... breathe."

Alarmed, Kisame glanced around just long enough to spot an alley to their right. He grabbed his partner by the elbow and swiftly guided him to it. Once they were sufficiently out of sight, he let go of Itachi, who put his back against the wall and doubled over and pressing his hand to his chest. Kisame could easily hear the wheezing breaths the Uchiha was taking in, and it sounded much worse than usual. He was already wishing that Kaisuki was still with them. It _would_ figure that the minute she was gone, Itachi's lungs started giving out again.

_That's a bit too much of a coincidence, don't you think?_

He squashed the thought as quickly as it arose and placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder, "Hey, are you alright? Anything I can do to be remotely helpful?"

Before Itachi could actually reply, a shudder ran through him and his next wheeze turned into a loud, harsh cough. He straightened up a bit with one hand squeezing a fistful of his cloak while the other was pressed over his mouth.

The coughing fit he was succumbing to seemed worse than the usual ones. His eyes were wide and Kisame was relatively certain that they were watering, his whole body was shaking, and his face was growing ashen. Within the first ten seconds of the fit, there was blood spilling past his fingers, and each cough seemed wetter and messier than the last.

Every cough was followed by a strangled wheeze, a desperate attempt to take in a breath of air past the blood rushing into his mouth, and Kisame had no idea what he ought to do. He really, _really_ wished Kaisuki was still with them. He had no knowledge in the field of irou-ninjutsu. He was basically an expert in dressing and caring for open wounds, and he could set a fracture with ease, but tending to Itachi's mess of a respiratory system was not his forte.

Itachi was still coughing up blood after three minutes (which was a fairly long time for his fits), and he wasn't breathing enough, as evidenced by the way he had started to list forward. Kisame quickly planted his hands on his partners shaking shoulders to hold him upright, growing ever concerned. Kaisuki didn't know the emergency call that Akatsuki employed, and she was two and a half hours out, anyway. She wouldn't be able to feel it, not even with Saeka. All he would accomplish would be attracting a _lot_ of attention to himself.

It was close to four minutes before Itachi finally took in a decent breath of air without immediately coughing. He held very still for a long moment, no longer coughing. Then, after a good two minutes of stillness and silence between them, he slowly straightened back up, spitting out one last mouthful of blood. He used the hand had hadn't been drenched in red to pull out his handkerchief so he could wipe his mouth and hand off.

"Are you alright?" Kisame asked again, suddenly noting that his heart rate was a bit elevated. Leave it to Itachi's terrible health to scare him out of his wits. The Uchiha glanced up at him with hooded eyes, his face still pale and his lips still purple.

"I'm..." he began hoarsely, stopping long enough to swallow hard. "I'm fine."

"Liar," the swordsman grunted in reply. "Are you okay to keep walking?"

Itachi didn't reply at first. He looked like he was highly uncomfortable. His chest was probably still hurting fairly horribly. After a moment, he swallowed again and nodded silently.

"Alright, then let's get a move on," Kisame said, turning back towards the road they had just been walking down. Itachi walked alongside him, reaching up a hand and rubbing at his eyes. Crowds tended to give him a headache. The Uchiha had previously explained that the faces of the people walking past them would bleed together a bit, and since everything was already fairly unfocused, it made his head hurt.

Kisame felt bad for Itachi on a number of different levels, even though he knew that admitting it would ensure that the younger man never spoke to him again.

He glanced up and spotted the hotel, only a few more doors down. "I was beginning to think we would never get there," he commented. Itachi hummed quietly in reply, but didn't say anything.

Their client was on the third floor of the Meikai Hotel, in room 366. Two flights of stairs. It wasn't a lot, but given the episode Itachi had just had, Kisame was wondering if he ought to leave his partner in the lobby. He knew that wouldn't happen even if he suggested it, though, so he didn't bother to ask.

They walked into the Meikai Hotel, crossed the lobby, and started up the stairs at a slow, even pace. The last thing he needed was for Itachi to start coughing again. He knew his partner hated being looked after more than most things in the world (hence the constant lying about his health), but Kisame honestly didn't care. The Uchiha hadn't mentioned the significantly slowed pace, and he wasn't about to start explaining himself if he wasn't required to. Itachi probably already knew why they had slowed down.

They had to stop so Itachi could catch his breath at the top of the first flight. The younger of the two of them leaned up against the cool stone wall, gasping quietly.

"You're having a worse day than usual," Kisame remarked with a worried frown. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Itachi looked over at him tiredly and shrugged. He looked really out of it. "I don't know... I don't know what's wrong." He quietly replied.

Kisame's frown deepened and his eyebrows furrowed. It seemed like whatever was wrong with his partner was going beyond a physical malady. He didn't think he'd ever seen the Uchiha look so depressed. He couldn't imagine what could possibly be causing whatever was wrong with him, and he wished more than anything else that he and Itachi hadn't sent Kaisuki away for the duration of their mission. If the Uchiha continued to worsen, there wouldn't be anything Kisame could do, and he didn't think they were going to be sending for Kaisuki sooner than a week from then.

He knew better than to suggest that they abandon their mission and inform their bosses that Itachi was in no condition for much of anything outside of sleeping. The Uchiha would have none of that, and he'd probably be furious if Kisame even suggested it. He supposed he was just going to have to keep an eye on Itachi, and if things got bad he would send for Kaisuki before their mission was finished.

After about five minutes, Itachi deemed himself well enough to continue and started walking up the stairs wordlessly. Kisame sighed and followed after him. At the top of the second and last flight, Itachi was out of breath again, but he didn't stop. They walked down the hall, around a corner, and partway down that hall, before coming to a stop in front of room 366.

Kisame glanced at Itachi, who returned his gaze for just an instant before Kisame felt the genjutsu that had been surrounding them disappear. He lifted a hand, knocked, and waited. Within a few seconds, the sound of the lock unhinging on the other side could be heard, and the door was pulled open.

The girl standing before him looked identical to the one that had been in the picture they'd received with their mission details. Black hair, black eyes, extremely pale, and quite fragile-looking. Itachi didn't stiffen or say anything, so it was unlikely that she was using a genjutsu. In that case, it was definitely their client.

"Oh! Hello, come in. I've been expecting you," she told them with a friendly smile as she stepped back and to the side to let them into the room. Kisame followed after Itachi, glancing around with a critical eye to ensure that nothing suspicious got past him. He couldn't rely on Itachi's poor vision to see something small that might have been overlooked by an untrained eye.

The door was shut and latched behind them as they were turning around to face the twelve year-old girl. She stepped away from the door, her hands clasped in front of her yukata, and met their gazes evenly. "What might I call you two?" She asked politely, her smile still present.

There was an instant of a pause in which Kisame knew Itachi was considering whether or not to give her his real name. Whatever the Uchiha decided would be what Kisame went along with, so he waited for his partner to make the decision.

Itachi replied, "Uchiha Itachi."

And Kisame followed suit, "Hoshigaki Kisame."

"Itachi-san and Kisame-san, then." The girl concluded, her smile widening. "I'm Yukimura Sumi."


	4. suffocate

Among the few different things that Kaisuki prided herself in, there was her honesty. She didn't lie. She didn't white lie. She didn't sugar-coat the truth. She didn't try to soften blows. She didn't feel that it was worth it to lie to someone about something and risk them finding out and feeling betrayed. She didn't like to put herself under that kind of stress. She hadn't told a lie since Itachi had defected from Konohagakure, and even before that, she had only ever lied about the smallest things.

Kaisuki was relatively certain that she was one of the most honest people she'd ever met.

Or at least, she had been.

She had been lying to everyone in Konohagakure since the day she'd left to find Teara. She had lied about what she was going to do. She had told Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei a variety of things to keep them from worrying about her. She hadn't told them that she was tracking Teara, and she hadn't told them that she was tracking Itachi and Kisame-san, and she most certainly hadn't told them that she was _traveling_ with the two Akatsuki members.

She felt awful about it. The guilt gnawed at her whenever she returned home to visit. Every time she saw Naruto's smile, every time she shared a girl joke with Sakura, and every time she listened to Kakashi-sensei's tales of how the team had been faring without her, she almost wanted to cry. She hadn't expected to end up where she'd ended up, and she didn't regret it at all, but that didn't change her immense feelings of guilt about having to lie.

She supposed she could've just confessed to her team about it. They would've been furious, confused, hurt, and many other things, but they might've forgiven her. Sasuke had done much worse and the rest of her team (for whatever reason) wasn't holding it against him. Naruto had kept the stray Uchiha out of the BINGO books by promising Tsunade-sama that he would bring him home.

But if Kaisuki told her team about her _real_ activities, they would want her to stop. They would want her to abandon Itachi and Kisame-san, and she couldn't. She already missed Kisame-san the way she missed her team when she wasn't in Konohagakure. Even if Itachi had been forcibly keeping himself mostly out of it, the three of them had managed to become some semblance of a team. It was a bit tense (because of Itachi), but it was still a team. Team 7 was in much worse shape than Team Lying Criminals, at least in terms of dysfunctionality.

She didn't want to have to choose between her team in Konohagakure and her team on the road. She didn't think that she could have. Even though he was cold and unkind and harsh, Kaisuki still had a special place in her heart for Itachi. He was like her brother, and even though he had betrayed her in a horrible way, she still cared for him. Kisame-san had also gained a special place of his own, even in the few months that she had known him. It wasn't as large and spacious as Itachi's and Sasuke's and Naruto's, but it was there.

She couldn't choose between them, so she hid the existence of her relationship with Itachi and Kisame-san from Team 7. It was a lie. It was a _big_ lie, and she knew that it was eventually going to blow up in her face, but she still didn't want to back out. If she lost her home, and her friends, and everything she held dear, there wasn't anything she could do about it.

She already had a bond with Kisame-san and some semblance of one with Itachi (though she was relatively certain it was stronger between Izumi and Itachi). If her team and her village decided that she was a traitor and they all refused to ever speak to her again, there wasn't anything she could do about it. Even if she confessed to Naruto while she was in Konohagakure that very evening, it wouldn't change what his reaction would be.

She had no idea what their reactions would be.

" _Kaisuki, are you okay?_ " Izumi's voice floated up from just behind the reigns. " _It's gotten pretty cold in here._ "

" _Oh, sorry,_ " she mumbled in reply. " _I'm just... I'm thinking._ "

Khrai spoke next, " _What about?_ "

At first, she wasn't sure she wanted to reply. Izumi would probably reassure her that her friends wouldn't decide that they hated her, while Khrai would tell her that, if there wasn't anything to be done anyway, she shouldn't worry about it. That wasn't what she needed to hear. She didn't know what she needed to hear.

" _I... feel bad._ " She finally admitted after a pause.

Izumi hummed, " _Guilty?_ " The irou-nin inquired. Kaisuki hummed an affirmative in reply. " _It's understandable. Lying doesn't come naturally to you._ "

" _Look, I get where you're coming from. I really do. I didn't used to hide as much as I do now. I don't lie, but I do omit shit on purpose._ " Khrai interjected, sighing heavily and sounding world-weary. It didn't suit her at all. " _You're absolutely right; eventually, your team is going to find out what you've really been doing for the past two years, and I can't say what they're going to think about that, because I don't know. What I_ _ **will**_ _say is that, if this is really so agonizing for you, you should just tell them._ "

Kaisuki blinked, surprised. She would've expected Izumi to be the one to tell her that, and yet it was Khrai who was telling her to confess her sins. " _I..._ " she started and stopped in a single breath. After a pause, she continued. " _I don't want them to hate me._ "

" _Kaisuki,_ " Izumi spoke up gently. " _I don't think that your team will hate you for this. Remember that Naruto has forgiven Sasuke, even though he's truly defected. If anything, they'll be angry and hurt. But it'll be much worse if they find out from someone else._ "

Kaisuki didn't reply right away, but she knew Izumi was right. Naruto would be devastated if he heard from some random person that she was traveling with a couple of S-rank missing-nin and hadn't told him. The level of trust between the two of them was supposed to go both ways. He had told her some of his deepest, darkest secrets, and she had shared many of the same.

The only thing she had never told anyone was the fact that she was determined to get the truth out of Itachi, because she didn't believe what he'd told Sasuke.

" _Kaisuki_ ," Saeka's voice startled her, mainly because she hadn't heard it all day. " _You need to turn around right now._ "

Instinctively, she stopped on the next branch she came to. " _Why? What's happened?_ " She immediately asked, her mouth going dry. " _Are Itachi and-..._ "

" _It's Sumi._ "

Kaisuki froze, eyes widening in horror. " _W-what? Sumi's... I thought...?_ "

" _There's a large cloud of demonic energy near Keishi,_ " Saeka replied tensely. " _It's so thick I can't sense them, and it spans at least a couple of miles._ "

" _Kaisuki_ ," Khrai cut into their conversation before the Yurei could say anything further. " _Go. Now._ "

Kaisuki swallowed, but she didn't hesitate. She launched herself off the branch she'd been standing on, moving as fast as she could back the way she had come. Her heart was racing and her mind was buzzing with confusion. She had slit Sumi's throat. The girl had gone down and she hadn't gotten back up, though Kaisuki distinctly recalled the bad feeling she'd had when she'd taken the demoness out. Khrai had told her not to worry about it, but obviously the blonde had been wrong.

_"We have an escort to do. Starting in Keishi."_

_"They were to escort a girl named Yukimura Sumi to Shimogakure, and deliver her safely to her father."_

Kaisuki _felt_ the color drain out of her face. It was a perfect replay of the last time the girl had appeared. She didn't know why Sumi had come back. She didn't know if Itachi and Kisame-san were in danger, or if they were even still alive. She didn't want to be pessimistic, but Sumi was powerful and Itachi was sick. Kisame-san wouldn't be able to fight her and protect his partner at the same time. If she was going to place bets with herself, she would guess that the demoness was after Itachi, just as she'd been after Sasuke previously.

_But_ _**why** _ _are you trying to kill them?_

Kaisuki didn't know what the humanoid creature wanted, but she knew it wouldn't be anything good. She just hoped that she wasn't too late.

...

_"Because Itachi can't run."_

_"Itachi can't fight, he's sick."_

_"We'll dodge around them so we don't have to fight, but we can't run because of Itachi, so let's double back and..."_

For the past five months, Itachi had been extremely affronted every time Kaisuki or Izumi said he couldn't run or fight. But he hadn't had to conduct much more active violence than an assassination, and those didn't require much physical effort. He hadn't had to run anywhere or engage anyone in battle, because he and Kisame hadn't encountered anyone they had to run from or fight in a year. In that amount of time, his health had taken a severe turn for the worse, but he hadn't thought that it would get in his way _that_ much if he did have to engage in battle.

However, as he was sprinting and weaving through the woods with a broken arm, he was coming to understand why Kaisuki and Izumi kept saying he couldn't fight or run. With every step and breath, a sharp pain split through his chest. He could hardly breathe. He had been consistently slowing his pace for a few minutes, not because he was trying to avoid coughing, but because he was feeling faint.

Yukimura Sumi was _not_ their client. He didn't know who she was. He didn't know why she was trying to kill him. He didn't know if Kisame had been killed as well, or if she was only intending to take him out. Although, he couldn't really imagine how she could've gotten past Kisame without Itachi _hearing_ them fight.

He had tried several times to call Kisame using Akatsuki's emergency distress signal (which was simply spiking his chakra as high as it could go in a very specific pattern), but he had yet to hear or see his partner. It was beginning to look like he really was on his own, and if that was truly the case, he was almost definitely going to be killed.

_I'm not supposed to die yet, though. Sasuke still needs me._

Itachi had no idea what to do. He had tried fighting her at first, but upon jamming a kunai into her throat and finding that it didn't even come _close_ to killing her, he had elected to make a strategic retreat into the dimly lit forest. He had tried throwing explosives at her, but it had been completely ineffective and pausing to make sure she was dead had cost him a functioning arm.

He couldn't kill her, which meant he couldn't fight her. He was on his own and he was definitely dead meat.

He sucked in a choked breath of the cool night air and a searing, stabbing pain - much worse than what he'd been dealing with up until then - erupted in his chest. He could feel the blood trying to rush up his windpipe, and he could already taste the copper in his mouth. He slowed down significantly, gasping and wheezing and then coughing harshly as he stumbled up to a tree, leaning heavily against it as he spat up blood.

His eyes were watering. Since starting the escort mission, every time he had a fit, it was a dozen times worse than the fits he used to have before Kaisuki had strolled back into his life. The pain was worse, the coughing lasted longer, and it seemed like much more blood came up.

" _Itachi, she's coming,_ " Madara's familiar, panicked voice suddenly said from somewhere to his left, startling him. The ghost had lagged behind to see how much distance was between Itachi and Sumi. The living Uchiha could hear the panic in Madara's voice, could see the terror in his black eyes. He straightened up, wheezing, and glanced over his shoulder. He couldn't keep running. There was no way. He couldn't get in enough air to support how fast his heart was racing. He was sure his lips were purple, and he was already incredibly dizzy.

He needed a plan, something he could do to get some more distance between them, but he was out of ideas. He'd tried leaving traps, he'd tried hurling exploding notes directly at her, he'd tried fighting her head on and had severed several of the tendons and ligament in her legs, he'd tried flatly running for his life - he had tried _everything_.

She wasn't human. That was the only conclusion he had been able to draw from what had been happening. No human would be able to walk with the damage he'd done to her legs. No human could walk through a trap like the one's he'd laid and come out unscathed. No human could take a kunai to the throat and just pull it back out and keep going.

No human had chakra _that_ dark.

" _Look out!_ "

Itachi winced at the sudden, loud voice, and he barely had the time to figure out what was going on before he was shoved _hard_. He instinctively angled his shoulder towards the ground as it rushed up towards him, doing half a somersault and landing flat on his back. He choked out blood trying to make its way up his throat and rolled to the side to cough, suppressing the knowledge of the excruciating pain in his broken arm. Too much jostling.

He wheezed, stumbling to his feet and glancing over his shoulder long enough to see the shadowy wisps pulling themselves back out of the ground and the trees and drawing back into the darkness. Madara was standing a few feet away, stricken, and their eyes met for just an instant before Itachi stood up and started running again.

Itachi's leg felt like jelly and his body was weakening from the lack of oxygen to support his level of physical activity. There were dark patches beginning to appear in his already muddled field of vision. He only managed to continue forward for a couple of meters before he stopped, his good hand fisting around the front of his shirt. He couldn't fight. He couldn't run. He couldn't _breathe_. He was definitely going to die.

He heard Madara gasp suddenly and loudly just as something cold wrapped around his throat and yanked him backwards. He stumbled until he fell, his only functional hand grabbing at the thing wrapped around his neck. It felt cold than ice on his skin and it burned horribly, but that was irrelevant information alongside the knowledge that he couldn't inhale _at all_.

He heard footsteps in the grass a few feet away and he was lifted off the ground by the shadow that was strangling him. It loosened it's grip just enough to permit him to get in a little bit of air before blood came spilling past his lips.

" _Oh no, oh god, Itachi-... drop him, you psycho!_ " He could hear Madara's voice, and he could hear the panic and anger in his tone, but Itachi wasn't sure where exactly he was.

"Wow, that's an awful lot of blood you're spitting up," Sumi's sickeningly sweet voice reached him, and he couldn't process what she was saying past the thudding of his heart in his ears, over the sharp pain in his chest, over the burning on his throat and hands. Occasionally, he could get in a mouthful of air - just enough to keep him conscious but not enough to regain him his strength.

_Itachi stared... black_ _**thing** _ _that had... lashed out and... Sasuke by the ankle... dark water. He took off... diving into the... He swam and... Sharingan activating instinctively... too dark... continued swimming down..._

He heard a dark chuckle, "Oh, I have something fun in mind," only a split second before that icy hot feeling forced its way into his mouth and down his throat, pushing down his windpipe and spreading pain and iciness through his chest. He heard Madara make a sound that verbalized an emotion somewhere between distress and rage and panic, and he found himself wishing for the hundredth time that the ghost wasn't a ghost.

Abruptly, searing pain that sudden tore it's way through his chest. His eyes welled up with tears, his whole body spasmed, and he belatedly recognized the feeling of flesh being torn up on the inside. His haunt's loud voice seemed to be getting farther and farther away. Everything was getting farther and farther away. His vision was almost completely black and his arms and legs were tingling with numbness, as though they had fallen asleep.

_They would both drown... Itachi hastily... their lips together, exhaling... air he had left into his brother's lungs... wrenched Sasuke up... let himself be dragged further down... used a pulse of chakra to... towards the surface._

The cold feeling pulled back, and it was closely followed by a rush of blood into his mouth. Sumi dropped him and he hit the ground hard, only to immediately start trying to pick himself up with his one good arm. He couldn't seem to evacuate all of the blood that had filled his lungs, and it hadn't stopped coming. He couldn't inhale past it. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't _breathe_.

_We shouldn't have sent Kaisuki away._

He didn't know where Kisame was, although he supposed it didn't matter anyway - his partner wouldn't be able to do anything about the tears in his lung tissue. Madara's hands were on him, though he couldn't really tell _where_ on him. The ghost's frantic pleading could hardly be understood by the slowly suffocating Akatsuki member. His eyelids were fluttering shut and he collapsed onto his side, blood still flowing freely from his mouth and nose, his muscles twitching as they tried to maintain function without any oxygen to feed them.

_Sorry, Sasuke. I messed up._

...

"...-me! ...isame!" He felt like he knew that voice. "Kisame, for the love of fuck, wake the hell up!"

Kisame flinched violently into consciousness, blinking rapidly. He definitely knew that voice. He looked up blearily, his eyes meeting Khrai's bright blue ones. Kaisuki had come back? Was something wrong? He would've thought that he'd have noticed if something was wrong, but he supposed it was possible that something dangerous was headed his and Itachi's way.

He reached up a hand to rub his eyes, wondering when he'd fallen asleep. "Where the hell is the fire?" He grunted, lowering his hand.

Khrai's blue eyes suddenly flickered back to their usual bright red when Kisame looked up at her again. Her face was white, and she looked distressed. "Kisame-san, where's Itachi?"

He looked up at her and blinked again, before glancing around the mostly dead campfire. Itachi was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Sumi. Immediately getting a bad feeling, he stood up. His legs felt a little unsteady, but he shook them out and the feeling went away. "I have no-..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt Itachi's chakra signature. It was a ways away, but the Uchiha was flaring it as high as it could go. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared again. The same thing happened a few more times, in a pattern Kisame recognized, and he felt his blood run cold.

"What is that?" He recognized Saeka's distinct vocal tone, and he glanced down at her briefly before he started walking in the direction he could feel Itachi's energy coming from.

"Distress signal," he ground out. "Which we only use if we're fearing for our lives. Let's go." He didn't wait for the Tsubaki to reply before he leaped into the nearest tree and took off through the branches.

"How did you know something was up?" He asked, looking her way again. "You should've been a few hours out."

"Saeka picked up on a cloud of dark energy near Keishi," she replied tensely. "It spans a couple of miles. It took me three hours to find you."

"Are you serious?" He deadpanned. A couple of _miles_? Who had _that_ much chakra? _He_ didn't even have that much chakra, and his was comparable to that of a jinchuriki. He didn't think anything short of a bijuu could spread their chakra out that far, but if a tailed-beast had been involved, he would've _seen_ it. "How the hell did we not feel it?"

Kaisuki shook her head distractedly. "I don't know," was all she said, and Kisame didn't pursue the conversation.

His heart was in his throat. Itachi couldn't run or fight. As it was, he might be dead by the time they got to him. He was still periodically spiking his chakra, which only told the blue-haired Akatsuki member that he wasn't _dead_. It didn't tell him if he was having difficulty breathing, or if he was bleeding out while running for his life, or anything at all.

If Kaisuki hadn't shown up to wake him, the Uchiha would probably have been killed.

He didn't understand why he'd fallen asleep in the first place. He was an S-rank missing-nin who worked for Akatsuki. He wasn't _allowed_ to fall asleep unless he was in a hotel room and even then, dozing was preferred. He didn't even remember falling asleep, or becoming tired, or anything of the sort.

Sumi (he was assuming she was the current enemy) had to have used some kind of genjutsu to put him to sleep. It had to have been pretty powerful too - Itachi had helped him practice dispelling genjutsu, and the Uchiha was _the_ best at genjutsu in the Shinobi Nations. There wasn't anyone on his level, at least in that aspect.

He should've picked up on that genjutsu before it'd had a chance to knock him out. He wasn't on Itachi's level, but he was good enough at detecting genjutsu to notice if he was being put to sleep. Something was seriously off with that girl. How could she be that powerful and not be on Akatsuki's radar?

More importantly, why had Akatsuki sent them on a mission with a girl who was _obviously_ not who she claimed to be? Normally Kisame and Itachi's bosses made a point to contact whoever a set of Akatsuki members were delivering their charge to, in order to make sure that those people were in fact expecting someone. It wouldn't do if Akatsuki accidentally delivered an assassin to one of their benefactors, after all.

The only thing he could think of was that the fellow who had asked them to escort Sumi to Shimo no Kuni was actually trying to kill Itachi, and had set the whole thing up. There was no way the letter had been forged - he had looked it over himself. He'd cottoned on to forgeries before. He'd never taken a mission that wasn't legitimate.

So unless Akatsuki was trying to kill Itachi, it had to be the benefactor. He would have to contact his employers to let them know. But that could wait until after he had rescued his partner.

They had been leaping through the trees for a good three minutes without feeling anymore chakra spikes from Itachi, when said spikes started up again. This time, the pattern was off and it was obvious that he was in enough trouble that he wasn't able to count the seconds between each flare up. Kisame cursed internally and picked up the pace, and Kaisuki didn't fall behind. She was surprisingly fast, to be able to keep up.

"He stopped running," Kaisuki suddenly said. "He had stopped, and then he started running again, but he stopped again almost immediately."

"He probably can't breathe." Kisame replied darkly.

They broke through the trees and found themselves on a narrow path. If Kisame was placing the spikes correctly, Itachi ought to be just a little ways further down the path. The moonlight was strong, so he wasn't having any trouble seeing since they had broken out of the trees.

"I think I see-..." he heard Kaisuki begin to say at the exact moment that he spotted a large, black mass just up ahead. As they drew closer, he saw that it was, indeed, Sumi and Itachi. The twelve year-old was standing over Kisame's partner, the shadowy mass around her taking shape as a dozen or more thick, pointed strands, all aimed directly at the Uchiha, who wasn't moving at all.

Kisame's stomach plummeted and his heart jumped into his throat. Before he could pick up the pace, however, he felt a sudden burst of heat to his right. There was a bright flash of fiery light beside him, and he glanced over to see a girl with pink eyes for a split second before she launched herself forward with an enraged shriek.

Sumi flinched visibly and looked up just in time for Saeka to slam into her, sending them both flying down the path, and into the darkness. The air felt like it had warmed several degrees in just the few seconds between them spotting Itachi and Saeka and Sumi disappearing into the night. He could faintly hear more shrieking and fighting from the duo, but he ignored it as he came upon Itachi's still form.

He dropped to his knees beside his partner, grabbing his shoulder and turning him onto his back, and his stomach dropped again. There was blood everywhere, and it was still oozing out of the Uchiha's nose and mouth. Kisame placed a hand on his chest to see if he was breathing, but he wasn't, so he pressed down on Itachi's chest just a little, and a fresh wave of blood spilled out of his mouth.

Kisame froze. He was bleeding in his lungs so badly that they were overflowing? He looked up, searching through the darkness for Saeka for only a moment, before he bellowed, " _Izumi!_ " at the top of his lungs.

In an instant, Saeka appeared before him, switching back into Kaisuki even as she was dropping to the ground on Itachi's other side. Her eyes were already green, and Kisame saw them light up brighter than usual as she pressed her hands to Itachi's chest. They started to glow immediately, and he watched her lips slowly part and her eyes widen in horror.

"What-..." he began, but she cut him off.

"Put your hand on my neck," she suddenly commanded, failing to answer the question he hadn't finished asking. "I need your chakra, _now_."

He knew an important order when he heard one, so he immediately reached over her and placed his hand on the side of her neck. The glowing around her hands intensified greatly for about thirty seconds before it lessened. She then rolled Itachi onto his side, placing one hand on his back and one on his chest, and started draining the blood out of his lungs. The amount of crimson liquid the flowed out of his mouth was disturbing, to say the least.

As soon as she was done, Izumi swiftly rolled the Uchiha back onto his back, wiped his mouth with Kaisuki's sleeve, and started chest compressions. One, two, three, breathe. One, two, three, breathe. She worked methodically, her expression nothing short of concentrated as she administered CPR. Kisame had never seen her with such determination on her face, nor had he ever seen her on the verge of tears.

He didn't like it. Itachi was going to get an earful after they had revived him and gotten to safety. Kisame was going to yell at him for almost getting himself killed, almost making Izumi cry, almost giving his partner a heart attack, and anything else he could think of in the meantime.

The seconds that Izumi spent trying to revive the Uchiha turned into a minute, and then two, and they kept ticking by. Supposedly, Itachi wouldn't go brain dead so long as Izumi was still giving him CPR, but he was reasonably certain that the chances of him actually waking up got smaller and smaller with each compression.

_C'mon, Itachi-san, death by one-sided battle is a lame way to go and you know it._

Ironically, Itachi chose that moment to suck in a wheeze of a breath, which immediately transitioned into a raspy coughing fit. Izumi dug her hand underneath him and hauled him upright, letting him lean against her, the hand she had left on his back beginning to glow a softer, paler green.

Kisame let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, running a hand through his hair. He didn't think he'd ever been as stressed out as he was in that moment. His hands were shaky, and for some reason, he was having significant difficulty keeping himself from grinning.

Itachi continued to take in shaky, uneven breaths, and Kisame could see how much he was trembling. He had to be freezing, what with how much blood he must have lost. The glow around Izumi's hand slowly faded away again, and she wrapped that arm around Itachi's shoulders and pulled him closer, soothing away his tremors somewhat with comfort.

In that moment, Kisame could tell she had been a mother.

She looked up and met his gaze, smiling at him with gratitude. It wasn't an expression he was used to seeing. It looked odd and foreign and he wasn't entirely sure how he'd even recognized the expression at all. He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone look at him like that.

_"You scared the hell out of me, Itachi-san. Are you alright?"_

_That had been the first time he'd ever seen Itachi smile. It had only lasted a few seconds, and the then sixteen year-old had been wholly delirious. "Sorry," he'd whispered hoarsely. "I think... I'm dying."_

"Thank you for your help," Izumi said softly, as though she were trying not to disturb the likely-unconscious Uchiha.

Kisame snorted, "I really didn't do anything."

"No," Izumi disagreed. "Kisame, I wouldn't have been able to heal him quickly enough to save him if you hadn't lent me your chakra. He would've been brain dead by the time I finished. I don't have much chakra to work with. Anyway, we shouldn't stick around here." She continued, looking around the area carefully. "I highly doubt that Sumi is dead. Can you carry him?"

Kisame paused for only a second or two when she identified their client by name. He hadn't told them who their client was, had he? He was positive that he hadn't. How did she know Sumi? Had they encountered her in the past?

Deciding to interrogate her later, he nodded jerkily, shifting so that he was kneeling instead of sitting on his knees. Izumi pulled her arm back from around Itachi's shoulders, leaning him back somewhat and gingerly crossing his arms (one of them was _broken_ ) over his stomach before shifting back so Kisame could scoop the Uchiha up.

They both stood up, Itachi secure in Kisame's arms, and Izumi's green eyes flickered to Kaisuki's familiar red. "I think we should head to Keishi," she said immediately. "It's crowded, and she doesn't seem to be interested in killing anyone she doesn't have to, so she probably won't follow us there."

Kisame, still bewildered as to how Kaisuki knew so much about Yukimura Sumi, nodded. "Yea, you're probably right. I'd be dead already otherwise."

The Yurei nodded silently, and they started up the path, in the direction of Keishi. It was only an hour or two away if they walked, but Kaisuki moved off the path and jumped into the trees. Kisame followed her lead, already knowing that it would be smarter to stay off the main footpaths. The girl wasn't a missing-nin, but she had all the sensibilities of one, and that was actually fairly interesting in and of itself.

He didn't know what Kaisuki had been doing up until she had first met up with the two Akatsuki members. He knew she had been tailing Teara, but there seemed to be a lot more that she'd been up to than that. He suspected she'd been keeping bounty hunters off their trail, but he felt like there was another side to that story, as well.

He liked Kaisuki a lot. They got along really well, and she was kind and considerate, but she was also smart and very clever. She really did have the mindset of a missing-nin, even though she sometimes returned to her hometown and frequently exchanged letters with her friends.

Kisame knew there were things she hadn't told him about herself, but he felt like he had learned enough just interacting with her. She was easy to get to know and very open with her personality. She had been the same person from day one: there was no leveling up in friendship to unlock certain aspects of who she was.

And yet, even though he felt like he knew her so well, there were _huge_ gaps in his knowledge about her. He'd asked Itachi a few questions when she'd been gone. The Uchiha hadn't been able to answer any of the questions he'd _really_ wanted to know about (such as, "who the hell is Khrai and why is she so angry all the time?"), but he had given Kisame enough details to satisfy him.

Kaisuki was fundamentally the same person as she'd been when Itachi had defected (honest, considerate, and open), but she had still changed in a _lot_ of small ways since Itachi had last seen her. She didn't bare her soul as openly anymore. She didn't like tomatoes anymore. She never used to curse.

The old, patched up scarf she always wore around her waist was a present from Itachi on her fifth birthday. The insomnia was far from new. Itachi and his family used to babysit her when her parents were away on longer missions. She had always been very self-sufficient, and she'd only gotten better at it after Saeka had killed her family (that bit of information had come as a surprise). She was also extremely close to the kyuubi's jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, and she used to be very close to Itachi's little brother, Sasuke.

He had learned a lot about her between interacting with her and talking about her behind her back to Itachi, and there were still loads and loads of things he had no idea about. It was probably better that way, though. If she bared her soul to him, he would likely end up with a lot of valuable information. As it was, he ought to be using her as bait to get hold of the kyuubi's jinchuriki. He was going to be in a lot of trouble if his bosses ever found out about Kaisuki traveling with him and Itachi.

Kisame sighed softly as they raced through the trees, branch after branch. He could faintly see lights shining dimly through the trees, so they would be walking down the streets of Keishi within the next few minutes. He was relieved that they had made it all the way without running into Sumi again. He wouldn't have been able to fight her and carry Itachi at the same time.

He still didn't know why she'd been after Itachi.

 _You'd best be dead, Sumi._ He thought darkly, _I don't really want to find out what I'll do to you if I see you again._


	5. puzzle pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a COMPLETE moron and forgot that this isn't the week for posting new chapters of Within an Endless Night. Because of my stupidity, I'm going to have to not post next week. I'm just going to skip next week's chapter and return to the original posting schedule. So, the next chapter will be up on the 11th of March. I'm going to need the time to get back into writing.

Madara found that he was helpless to keep himself from openly _staring_ at Itachi as soon as Kisame put him down and he had a clear view of the kid. The living Uchiha had regained consciousness shortly after they'd gotten to the hotel room (while Izumi had been setting the fracture in his arm), but his face was white and his skin was clammy and he actually looked extremely sick. The ghost was chalking most of that up to the fact that he had lost a good amount of blood, as well as the fact that he had _drowned_ in said blood.

Kaisuki had gone out to "acquire" a pint of blood with which to give Itachi a transfusion to make up for what he'd lost, apparently already having the rest of the things she would need. She had gotten them a three-person suite, with two beds and a futon that could seat at least two people when it was in couch formation, three if they wanted to get cozy. Itachi had been stationed on one end of the futon with two pillows to prop himself up with, one of the comforters to keep him warm, and a glass of water that he had taken about three sips of.

He had been looking progressively worse and worse since Madara had gotten to see him properly in the light. The haunt was relatively certain that he was running a high fever. The kid certainly looked like it.

Kisame had been silent as the grave since they'd arrived, and Itachi had done absolutely nothing to try and get a conversation going. Shortly after Kaisuki had left, Kisame had asked Itachi if he'd needed anything. Itachi had requested the comforter and the glass of water, Kisame had gotten them for him, and that had been the end of that conversation.

It had been about forty-five minutes since they'd arrived in the hotel, probably an hour and fifteen minutes since Itachi had been revived. Madara's nerves were still shot. He couldn't find his sense of humor anywhere. Itachi had had brushes with death before, but _never_ like _that_.

Madara was completely without words. He hadn't said anything since Itachi had come back from the brink of death. No jokes, no quips, not even an inquiry after the kid's welfare. Everything had been almost eerily quiet, and he knew exactly which questions had been hanging around in the air since Kaisuki had left thirty minutes ago.

Who was Yukimura Sumi? Why had she tried to kill Itachi? How did Kaisuki and her spirits know who she was? Only three questions, but the only person who could answer them had gone out to get a pint of blood and hadn't given an estimated time for her return.

It wasn't as though Kaisuki had been cagey or dodgy, either. She hadn't at any point acted as though she wanted to keep her knowledge under wraps and to herself. If anything, Madara expected her to start answering Kisame's questions as soon as she got back. He was sure that was at least one of the reasons why Kisame and Itachi had been so quiet; neither of them had answers for the other and they both knew it, so they were just stewing in their thoughts in the meantime.

What was really amazing to Madara was how patient Kisame appeared to be. Normally, he was always in something of a hurry. He wanted to know the punchline before he heard the joke. He wanted to know the answer before he had formulated the question. He was constantly filling in words for Itachi when the Uchiha was taking his time composing his reply. At first, it had been rather annoying, because Kisame often picked the completely wrong word, simply due to assuming Itachi was going in one direction with what he was saying when he was going somewhere completely different.

Of course, Kisame had stopped interrupting the living Uchiha quite so often, specifically because he'd figured out that Itachi was more likely to just stop talking rather than continue trying to finish his sentences.

Madara supposed it was possible that the blue-haired Akatsuki member wasn't feeling patient at all, but was simply being impatient in complete silence. It was unlike Kisame to behave that way, but after the events that had transpired so far that evening, Madara definitely wasn't going to hold it against him. None of them had been behaving like themselves since they'd gotten to the hotel room.

Except Kaisuki, as odd as that seemed to him.

Kisame and Itachi looked up in perfect unison (from where they'd been staring at approximately the same spot in the middle of the couch) when the sound of the door being unlocked sounded through the room. The door swung open and Kaisuki walked in, a black bag gripped in her hand. She glanced up at them and flashed a grin before turning away to shut and lock the door behind her.

Without pausing, she strode across the room, setting the black bag on one of the nightstands on her way to her black backpack. She rummaged through it for a moment before producing a small scroll clearly labeled "INTRAVENOUS," which she spread out on the nearest bed and used to summon an IV stand, a package of needles, and alcohol and iodine swabs.

She grabbed the black bag off the table and pulled out the pint of blood she had retrieved (from where, Madara only wished he knew) and started assembling everything. "Before you start firing questions at me," the Yurei began, glancing over at them as she was looping tubing all over the place. "I have one question for Itachi."

The Uchiha in question watched her carefully with a weary gaze as she continued. "Did Sumi say _anything_ to you between the time you walked away from the campsite to the time we found you?"

Madara glanced at Itachi, already knowing the answer to the question. " _Tell her._ " He commanded.

Without missing a beat, Itachi replied hoarsely, "She said it would be easier to just kill me than to kill Sasuke."

Kaisuki jerked to a halt before looking at him again, alarmed. "That's all she said?"

Itachi nodded, and Kaisuki pursed her lips and hummed thoughtfully, returning her attention to her task. "That's... well, I'm definitely missing something, but I'll figure it out later, I'm sure," she muttered to herself. Then, glancing over at Kisame briefly, she smiled and said, "Okay, fire away."

As if he'd been waiting for that moment his entire life, Kisame immediately asked, "Who the hell is Yukimura Sumi and how do you know her?"

The Yurei chuckled darkly. "Well, that's a bit of a story, actually," she began. "My team was sent to escort a girl named Yukimura Sumi to Shimogakure about two years ago. I didn't get to go on that mission because I was... well, I wasn't around. I was lost in my own memories, but that's a story for another time."

Madara blinked, glancing at Itachi briefly. He was surprised when the Uchiha met his gaze, even if it was only for a second. Itachi _never_ looked at him around other people. That just wasn't allowed. Aside from that, he didn't think he'd ever seen the kid look so _tired_. Not even when he'd been delirious with fever, or had lost much more blood than he had that night.

Almost instinctively, he stood up from the foot of the bed he'd been sitting on and walked over to Itachi, situating himself cross-legged in front of the couch. He didn't want to touch the kid because he knew he was freezing, so he settled for the proximity instead of contact. He could lay all over Itachi when he was feeling better.

"Anyway," Kaisuki continued as she rolled the IV stand over to Itachi's side of the couch. The living Uchiha extended his arm out without any prompting, and she got to work wrapping the tourniquet around his bicep and cleaning the crook of his elbow with alcohol and iodine. "Six hours after they left, Tsunade-sama got a message from the man Sumi had told everyone was her dad, stating that he didn't _have_ a daughter. Me and a few others were sent out as a first response team because I guess they couldn't scramble a whole lot of people on short notice."

There was a pause in which Kaisuki carefully slid the needle into Itachi's arm (done with as much skill as an actual irou-nin) and started the IV drip. She then walked over to the foot of the bed that Madara had just been seated on and sat down with a sigh. "When we got there, Naruto had gone completely berserk on Sumi, Kakashi-sensei's throat had been slashed open, and Sasuke..."

The Yurei shuddered and swallowed hard, her face paling some. "Sumi... gutted Sasuke," she said quietly. Madara stiffened and glanced at Itachi again. The living Uchiha didn't return his gaze that time, but the ghost could see that he had lost a bit of color. "Sakura kept him from bleeding out, but he should've died from shock, or blood loss, or infection. Obviously, he didn't. He ran a fever for a couple of days after they patched him up at the hospital, but aside from that, there were no hitches. He's a lucky bastard, that's for sure."

"Anyway, Khrai had sent Shizune-san and Tenten to meet up with Sakura and Sasuke, since Sasuke needed a medic more than anyone else," She took a breath, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "I would've gone myself, since I have Izumi, but we needed Khrai to deal with Sumi. So, we found Kakashi-sensei, and Gai-san took him back to Shizune-san and them, while me and Neji went after Sumi and Naruto. Neji took Naruto down for me, and I..."

Kaisuki paused again, her brow furrowing this time and a frown appearing on her face. "I slit Sumi's throat with a kunai, and she went down and didn't get back up, so I assumed she was dead. I had a really bad feeling, but she didn't get back up and Saeka said her chakra flow stopped."

"But, apparently, she wasn't," Kisame deadpanned. Kaisuki looked up and him and nodded, but something seemed off about the look on her face. There was something she wasn't saying. He was sure Kisame could see it as well, and Itachi probably would've noticed too if he'd been looking at her, but he wasn't.

A silence fell over them for a long moment. Madara glanced over at Itachi, who was staring thoughtfully at the IV needle in his arm. " _She's not telling you something._ " He said. " _Look at her. She's hiding something._ "

Obediently, Itachi lifted his gaze and looked over at Kaisuki. He watched her carefully for a moment before he stated bluntly, "There's something else, isn't there?"

The Yurei - whose gaze had fallen to the floor - looked up quickly. After a moment, a tired smile appeared on her face, and she asked quietly. "You've already figured that out, though, right?"

There was a long pause, before Itachi slowly replied. "She's not human." He muttered, lowering his gaze again and furrowing his brow. He looked pretty disturbed.

"Not human?" Kisame blinked, bewildered. "I'm sure she used a genjutsu to make Kaisuki think-..."

"No," Itachi interrupted. "Kisame, I put a kunai all the way through her neck. She pulled it out and almost tore me in half. I blew her up, and she broke my arm when I paused to see if I'd managed to kill her. And..." he paused, taking in a uneven breath and clearing his throat before continuing. "I've never felt chakra that dark in my _life_."

"You're right," the vocal tone was different, and Madara immediately recognized the voice as Khrai, before he'd even looked over at the Yurei. Her blue eyes were set on Itachi. "She's not human. There's no human with chakra that dark."

"What is she?" The living Uchiha asked slowly, meeting Khrai's gaze evenly.

Khrai heaved a sigh, "You may or may not believe me, but shut the fuck up and let me explain this to you." She demanded. Kisame and Itachi both nodded in unison. "She's a demoness. Actually, I think she may be a step above that. But either way, she hails from the Underworld."

_An ice-cold vice grip wrapped around his throat and he sucked in a startled breath. He didn't know what could possibly be the source of chakra that dark, but he knew it couldn't be good news. Could the chakra of a human even get that dark? Was it a bijuu? No, it wasn't strong enough to be a bijuu..._

Madara swallowed hard, beginning to feel sick. He glanced over at Itachi, wishing they were on the road so they could take a walk and talk to each other. If there had ever been a time when he wanted to talk to the kid, it was right then. He wanted to ask him when they'd be able to get a moment, but he already knew that it wouldn't happen any time soon.

Although, he did have some slightly game-changing things to tell the kid, and soon would be a better time than ever to tell him.

_Too bad we're not allowed to chat in public._

Kisame opened his mouth to reply to the interesting news he'd just received, but Khrai brandished a finger at him, "Shut the _fuck_ up," she ground out, and he closed his mouth again. "This isn't the first time Kaisuki's been in the presence of a demon before Sumi, but she doesn't remember this because I knocked her ass out to keep her from asking stupid questions and distracting me. Hyuuga Neji was possessed at some point during the Forest of Death portion of Chuunin Exams. I broke his arm to see how he reacted to pain and when he didn't, I knew he was possessed. I... dealt with that demon with a little bit of my chakra and a little bit of my knowledge of the Hyuuga clan's branch family."

Itachi was staring at her. "If what you're saying is true, why on earth would a... "demoness" be trying to kill me and Sasuke?"

" _Good question. I'd like to know, too._ " Madara muttered under his breath.

Khrai let out another heavy sigh. "Honestly? We have no idea. I don't know what Sasuke did to piss her off and I don't know how you fucked up. I would assume that she'll probably try to kill you both again, though I have no fucking clue when, or how, or anything really. All we really know about her is that, wherever she is, there's a huge as shit cloud of demonic energy, usually spanning a couple of miles. And for whatever reason, we haven't encountered anyone aside from Saeka who can sense demonic energy."

_It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. The whole thing had to be a dream, right? Surely he'd wake up in just a moment. Surely someone would soon rouse him from the horrible nightmare that was beginning to feel a lot like reality._

_"Konohagakure, eh? I'll be sure to tear it down for you."_

_Hashirama wouldn't realize it wasn't him._

_"_ _**Don't you dare! Get back here or I swear I'll** _ _ **fucking** _ _**kill you! Hey! GET BACK HERE!!** _ _"_

Itachi cleared his throat once, and then coughed harshly, startling Madara out of his reverie. He looked over at the living Uchiha again, before turning his gaze back to the Yurei with wide eyes. Khrai's blue eyes immediately flickered to green, and Izumi stood up and walked over to Itachi. Her hand was already glowing when she pressed it against Itachi's chest, just in time for him to descend into an actual coughing fit.

The irou-nin's eyebrows knitted together as Itachi's coughing fit got worse, and Madara could see growing alarm written all over her face as the fit went on. The glow around her hands shifted to a paler shade of green. It took another minute or so before Itachi's coughing settled down, and once the Uchiha could breathe again, he groaned around a wheeze, his expression pained.

Izumi swallowed as the glow around her hands faded away, and she pressed her palm against Itachi's forehead. She frowned, looking deeply displeased with whatever it was she had discovered. The pulse of Madara's soul skyrocketed, fear immediately climbing up his throat. Something was wrong. He didn't think he could handle any more bad things happening to Itachi for the rest of the night.

" _I'm gonna have a heart attack if you keep this up, Itachi,_ " he mumbled quietly, unable to prevent himself from reaching up and taking Itachi's hand. To his surprise, Itachi gingerly curled his fingers just the slightest bit, just enough for Madara to feel the movement. He smiled, feeling almost sick with anxiety. " _I can't even_ _ **have**_ _heart attacks._ "

Itachi leaned back against his pillows and didn't reply, wrapping the arm that wasn't stuck with a needle around his middle. He looked positively miserable. Izumi had walked back over to Kaisuki's bag and was rummaging through it again. When she stood back up, she held a small container of a familiar pale green and pink paste.

"Lift your shirt, please," she requested politely as she peeled the lid of the container off. Itachi obediently pulled the covers down to his hips and lifted his shirt up. Izumi knelt down beside him after moving the IV stand over, setting the container down on the floor beside her. She scooped a decent amount of it onto three fingers and halved the amount over three fingers on her other hand.

Izumi glanced up at Itachi briefly before placing her paste-coated fingers on either side of his ribcage. The living Uchiha shivered at the chill as Izumi's hands lit up with a blueish-green color, and Madara observed as the paste began to seep into Itachi's skin. The irou-nin's eyes seemed to have brightened somewhat as she concentrated.

It only took about two minutes before she was done, and she retracted her hands, covered the container, and stood up. "You'll get your dose of whiteheart and moonwalker in the morning," she stated. "I know I gave you a dose of lacelle this morning, but I need to get that inflammation under control quickly."

Itachi looked over at her after he had pulled his shirt back down and his blanket back up to his chin. "Is something wrong, Izumi?" He asked quietly. The kid suddenly looked... downtrodden. Depressed. He seemed incredibly out of it, and he had to be _miserable_. Madara was immediately recalling how he'd looked when he and Kisame had been on their way to get Sumi.

 _What the hell is wrong with you?_ For once, he didn't voice his thoughts out loud.

"Well," Izumi replied with a sigh. "Firstly, you're running a pretty high fever. Secondly... Itachi, Sumi _shredded_ your lungs from the inside. There were multiple spots where the tears had gone all the way through the walls of your lungs. The scar tissue that we had almost completely gotten rid of is back, and it's worse than it was before because of the level of damage she did. Basically, we've been sent back to square negative five."

Madara glanced up at Itachi from where he'd been staring at Izumi with wide, horrified eyes. The living Uchiha's face was ashen, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion and haunted with the memory of his encounter with Sumi. He looked extremely upset, Madara suddenly realized. He hadn't seen Itachi look that devastated in a _long_ time. He could see depression seeping into his expression, and the ghost wasn't sure where exactly the amount of emotion Itachi was presenting was coming from.

Izumi was scrutinizing him carefully as well, a frown on her face. "If I'm going to prevent you from having a crisis of an episode within the next couple of months, I'm going to have to start giving you whiteheart every other day instead of every three days, and I'm going to have to start giving you a dose of lacelle at least twice a day." She paused, stepping back over to Itachi's side and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Itachi shuddered, which prompted Izumi to retract her hand. He looked like he wished she hadn't, and she seemed to notice, because she put her hand back where it had been and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I don't... know," he answered her, voice monotonous and barely above a whisper. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually..."

"It's okay, honey," Izumi crooned, kneeling down again. She lifted her hand off his shoulder and pressed it to his forehead again, looking very worried. "I think your fever may be causing some delirium. It's gotten very high since we first got here, so I'm a little worried."

Kisame, who had been quiet for a very long time, suddenly spoke. "Can you give him something to get it down?"

Izumi glanced up at him, frowning. "I will, but I just gave him a dose of lacelle, so I have to wait at least two hours before I can give him anything else. Lacelle doesn't react well with other medications, which is why I never give him all three of his meds at once."

The blue-haired man nodded, looking extremely worried. "He's been like this for hours, though," he said. "He had an _awful_ fit on the streets earlier while we were on our way to pick up Sumi, and ever since then he's been... off. I don't even know how to describe it."

Izumi nodded, looking perturbed. "He's probably just been sick all day, Kisame. I'll give him a dose of moonwalker and an anti-pyretic in a couple of hours, and then we'll put him to bed." She let out a huff of air and pressed her hand to his forehead again. He was looking more and more tired with each passing minute. "In the meantime, Itachi, please try to stay awake. I need to monitor your fever and your mental state to make sure you don't catch your death."

Madara let out a nervous chuckle. " _Please don't say that, Izumi,_ " he whispered.

Itachi's hand twitched against his, and he kind of wanted to start bawling from all the pent up emotion. The day had started with Khrai slaughtering a group of bounty hunters in cold blood, and it had ended with Itachi coming within centimeters of death. Too much had happened in one day. His soul was going to evaporate from all the stress.

_"Konohagakure, eh? I'll be sure to tear it down for you."_

For the millionth time, he wished he wasn't a spirit. At least then he could've been useful.

...

" _You put him to bed?_ " Kaisuki asked as Izumi stepped into the room. The brunette glanced over at her as she was closing the door, indexing her hostess' physical state. Kaisuki's body temperature rose exponentially when Saeka took over to fight, almost to the point of becoming dangerous. It was important to make sure there were no lingering effects after their youngest sister had finished killing (or attempting to kill) whoever it was she was fighting.

" _Yes,_ " she replied, smiling reassuringly as she sat down. She actually needed some reassuring herself, but she knew she couldn't ask for that from the non-medics in the room. " _I think he'll sleep through the night, but I told Kisame to wake us up if he had another fit, no matter how mild it may seem._ "

Kaisuki nodded, looking not at all reassured. She'd had the living daylights scared out of her, so Izumi didn't blame her at all for being exceedingly worried about Itachi. The Yurei definitely overheard the conversation she'd had when she'd been informing Itachi and Kisame just how bad things were since Sumi had attacked the Uchiha. Even if the demoness hadn't lacerated his lungs as badly as she had, pushing his body to its limit and then forcing him to keep running even at that point wouldn't have done him any favors.

The only thing about his health that was _really_ bothering her (or at least, that was bothering her more than everything else) was the suddenness of his fever. He hadn't presented with _any_ symptoms at all that morning when Kaisuki had first left, and yet Kisame had said that Itachi had started being noticeably sick when they'd first gotten to Keishi. Considering just how sick he had gotten in the past couple of hours, he should've been presenting with _something_ that morning, if not the evening before. People didn't usually spike fevers high enough to cause delirium without any other symptoms showing beforehand.

It was very concerning. He hadn't complained about any other symptoms aside from a headache, chills, and intense fatigue. All of those things could be explained by the fever. The question was: why did he have a fever? She'd told Kisame not to worry about it, but the fact of the matter was that Itachi hadn't been sick _at all_ that morning, and now he was _extremely_ sick - even though his only concrete symptom was his fever.

And if his fever got much higher, it might kill him. The moonwalker she'd been giving him helped boost his immune response, but he had lost more blood than they'd been able to replace. The pint they'd given him had helped a lot, but his body was still shot. The anti-pyretic she'd decided on hadn't started working by the time they'd put him to bed, either. She didn't know if it would work enough. He might very well still spike an even higher fever and "catch his death" while he was sleeping, completely unbeknownst to her. She'd have to get up in a short while to check on him.

" _Izumi, you're gonna chew a hole through your lip,_ " Khrai's voice cut into her thoughts and she looked up. Immediately, she noticed that she could taste copper in her mouth and her lower lip was burning. " _It'll heal hella quick since we're dead and all, but that doesn't mean you should do it._ "

She reached up and touched the fresh sore. Evidently she hadn't quite broken herself of that habit. She hadn't done it in a very long time. Itachi was stressing her out a bit more than she'd realized. She really needed to get that catastrophizing under better control. The worst possible outcome was never the _only_ possible outcome. She just needed to keep telling herself that.

_Even if I hardly believe it._

" _Is everything alright?_ " Kaisuki wanted to know. For a moment, Izumi considered lying to her, but given the fact that she'd just gnawed through her lip, she couldn't imagine either of the two girls believing her. They didn't usually catch her lies (or perhaps they just didn't press the issues), but that was a bit too large and obvious of a fib for her to get away with.

She sighed, drumming her nails against the table. " _Itachi wasn't sick this morning,_ " she said, frowning deeply. " _He wasn't exhibiting any symptoms, and we already know that he can't hide them from me. His color was good, he only had one fit overnight, and he was otherwise fine._

" _So, the fact that he got as sick as he's gotten, as fast as he's gotten, is a bit worrisome._ " She conceded, noting the color draining from Kaisuki's face right away. " _Normally, you don't just get a fever high enough to cause delirium without any other notable symptoms. He's not even congested. Everything he's complained about has been directly caused by his fever - chills, headache, joint pain, all of it. I just don't know why he has it._ "

Khrai hummed thoughtfully, attracting Izumi's attention. Her trademark scowl had returned (it hadn't been present a few moments ago), and she had clenched her fist on the table. She looked to be very deep in thought, and so the irou-nin waited patiently for her to start talking. Kaisuki, of course, wasn't as patient.

" _What is it, Khrai?_ " Their hostess asked curiously. Khrai glanced up at her briefly before returning her attention to her hand.

She muttered. " _It sounds like he's having a shitty reaction to the demonic energy in the air._ "

Kaisuki blinked. " _Like an allergic reaction?_ "

Khrai let out a huff and looked up at them. " _Yea, kind of. Usually it only happens to people who are_ _ **really**_ _hyper-sensitive to that kind of energy, but this is the first Itachi's ever heard of demons, obviously, so I doubt he's ever had an experience with them before. If he had, he would've been wearing one of those 'oh, shit, I know exactly what she's talking about' kinds of faces._ "

Izumi frowned. She hadn't even thought of something like that being the case. Neji hadn't gotten sick from his exposure to Sumi's energy, and he _had_ been possessed before. " _Are there any exceptions to this rule?_ " She wanted to know.

The elf shrugged offhandedly. " _Even people who have been possessed don't usually get as sick as Itachi's gotten._ " Khrai sighed heavily, leaning back on her hands. Izumi didn't really like the sound of that. " _We're probably just over-thinking this. Maybe it's just because she used that energy to tear holes in his lungs. That shit would poison me too._ "

That explanation was far too simple for Izumi's taste, but she didn't push the conversation any further. Khrai didn't know, and if Khrai didn't know, there was nothing more for them to discuss on the matter. All she could do was keep the boy alive through his most recent bout of sickness and help her sisters-in-arms keep him safe in the future.

As it was, they could toss around conjectures all they wanted, but without all the pieces, they wouldn't be able to put together the puzzle. It was just beginning to seem like the puzzle was getting bigger and bigger every time they took another look at it.

Abruptly, she saw Kaisuki flinch. She placed her hand on her shoulder and looked towards the door to their little kotatsu room, before turning her attention to Izumi. " _I think Kisame's trying to wake me up._ "

Izumi nodded and stood up right away, " _Then, I'll see you both at the front?_ " Kaisuki nodded, Khrai shrugged noncommittally, and the irou-nin smiled and left the room. Two steps with a destination in mind sent her right to the front, and she took over Kaisuki's body, feeling herself settle into Kaisuki slighter frame. It wasn't quite uncomfortable, but rather like putting on an article of clothing that didn't fit quite right. She'd gotten used to it, but it was always there.

She opened her eyes and, as Kaisuki had predicted, Kisame was standing over her. He looked extremely concerned. Something had definitely happened, but she noticed right away that she couldn't hear Itachi coughing. Had he gone into respiratory failure? Was she going to have to resuscitate him again?

She sat up quickly, "What is it, Kisame?"

"Itachi's gone," He replied, the slightest tone of haste betraying his concern. "I have no idea where to, but he's not in bed, or in the bathroom, or anywhere else in this suite."

She could hear the underlying tone (aside from the mild fear) in his voice - _could you ask Saeka to find him for me?_ Izumi reached out internally and called out to Saeka. " _Saeka, I need you. Are you alright now?_ "

" _I'm here,_ " Saeka's voice answered within a few seconds. She felt the girl come up behind the front seat. " _What's wrong?_ "

" _Itachi's missing,_ " she supplied, blinking herself back into reality. Reaching out like that required her to take her attention off the real world for a moment. It was easier to just yell into the vastness of Kaisuki's mind when they were on the move or in battle, but Izumi preferred the quieter methods of doing things, if they were available to her.

Saeka was silent for about ten seconds before she said, " _He's on the roof._ "

Izumi blinked again, this time in surprise. She looked up at Kisame briefly and stood up, "Apparently he's on the roof." She told him. He stared at her, looking bewildered.

"Why the hell... whatever. I'll go get him." He assured her.

"I'll come with you," Izumi returned, her face set in a frown. Was it the demonic energy that was making Itachi behave so oddly? It was probably still permeating the air, even after as many hours as they'd been in that hotel room. A smog of energy as thick as Saeka had previously described had to take a while to leave the area, right?

" _Saeka,_ " she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the girl. It was better to just ask than to try and figure it out. " _Is that smog of energy still in the area?_ "

Saeka blinked, and then shook her head. " _No,_ " she replied. " _That smog's been gone for a couple hours. It never sticks around long. I think it goes away with Sumi._ "

The irou-nin wasn't sure what to think or say, so she simply answered, " _I see. I was wondering if it was still getting to him but... well, we'll see what he's up to when we get there. Thank you very much, Saeka._ "

" _No problem,_ " the youngest replied in a quiet voice.

Izumi returned her attention to the world in front of her, glancing up at Kisame and nodding at him. He held the door for her on their way out of the room, and they started down the hall towards the stairs that would take them to the roof.

Itachi really was behaving very erratically, and she didn't know why. If it _was_ "demonic energy poisoning" (assuming that was even the right term for it), was there something she could do to manage the symptoms? What could she give him that might combat it? She couldn't think of any plants off the top of her head that had purifying properties that actually worked - Tsukigakure had done away with "magical" practices of that sort a couple of centuries before Izumi had been born, in favor of advances in medicine and irou-ninjutsu.

Setting aside the issue of demonic energy poisoning, if Itachi wasn't in the suite, she and Kisame couldn't keep an eye on him. He could've had a massive fit and asphyxiated from the amount of blood he was coughing up. He could've been in respiratory failure. His heart could've stopped. He could've burned out from his fever. He could've fallen off the roof because his delirium convinced him that he wasn't as close to the ledge as he really was.

Too many things could be going wrong. Too many things could have already gone wrong.

 _Wait,_ she stopped herself then, taking in a breath as they started up the stairs. _You're getting ahead of yourself, Izumi. Calm down. Don't panic until you have a concrete reason to panic._

It wasn't good of her to start jumping to conclusions that extreme when she didn't have all the facts. It was equally possible that he had just gone up to the roof to get some fresh air, and that he was perfectly fine.

_The worst possible outcome is never the_ _**only** _ _possible outcome._

...

" _I don't remember much,_ " Madara continued after a lengthy pause. " _I don't remember how I fell into that hole, for example. But I do remember freaking out and I do remember the pain._ "

Itachi was still catching his breath (four flights of stairs was _horrible_ ) after almost an hour, but he listened carefully. Madara had been tense and quiet since they'd arrived in the hotel, but he'd been even more so for the past two hours. He had requested that they go to the roof after Kisame and Kaisuki had been in bed for an hour and a half, and Itachi had obliged. He had already figured that Madara would ask for them to ditch the hotel room at some point during the night.

" _I was on a mission for... some reason,_ " he was saying. " _At some point during said mission, I blacked out. I know that there was something going on in my head, but I can't remember any details about it. I remember that it was night when it happened, and when I came to, I was in that hole where you found me, it was sometime in the mid to late afternoon, and I wasn't in my body anymore._ "

Itachi halted in the midst of absentmindedly petting Madara's head, which was resting on his thigh. He looked down at the mop of black hair, frowning. "You didn't die?"

Madara sighed, " _No, I didn't die. I think... I dunno, there was this hollow feeling for a really long time, but it was separate from the weird feeling of not having a body. I think... I think I split my soul, if that's a thing._ "

"I've never heard of something like that." Itachi muttered, clearing his throat. His chest was hurting, and breathing was harder than it should've been. The pain was sharp and centralized enough that he had a feeling he had sprung a small leak in his lungs. That would also explain why he was having a progressively harder time breathing. He'd had two three-minute coughing fits in the past forty-five minutes. "I would ask Khrai about it, but..."

" _Don't want her asking why you're asking?_ " Madara concluded his sentence for him, and Itachi nodded in reply.

"I don't think she wouldn't believe me, necessarily," he said quietly. "I could just have you pick me up to prove it."

" _But?_ " Madara pressed, rolling onto his back so he could look up at Itachi.

Itachi sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this whole business with Sumi and demons. Khrai said that she couldn't think of what I could possibly have done to warrant that kind of attention from a demoness that powerful, but I haven't told her about you." He explained. "The only thing I could think of that _might_ draw attention to me is my connection to you, because I'm the _only_ person in the entire Shinobi Nations who can see you."

Madara frowned. " _You think I might be involved in this, somehow?_ "

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe. I don't know _why_ you would be involved, if you were, but... you're the only anomaly in my life that gives me any kind of tie to the supernatural."

The ghost hummed thoughtfully, but didn't reply. Itachi could feel the urge to cough rising up his windpipe, and he cleared his throat again. He was freezing. He ought to head back downstairs and go to bed.

" _Of course,_ " Madara suddenly said, drawing him out of his thoughts right away. " _Your theory doesn't explain Sasuke's encounter with Sumi._ "

Itachi nodded, "If she had wanted to get Sasuke in order to get to me, she wouldn't have tried to kill him. Capturing him when he was twelve would've been easy for her. And it's not like he can see you, so I can't think of how he's relevant at all."

" _It's weird,_ " the ghost remarked. " _Very weird. Unless he's got a haunt that we just don't know about._ "

Itachi didn't even consider the possibility. "I feel like the statistical likelihood of Sasuke being haunted by a ghost that I can't see, while I'm being haunted by a ghost that _he_ can't see, has to be next to nothing."

Madara hummed in agreement, " _You have an excellent point._ "

The conversation lapsed again. Itachi found himself wondering about Madara's story of being possessed within only a few moments. He'd been _possessed_ , not killed. He had somehow injured himself in his battle to retain control over his body. Then, the thing that had possessed him went and made history by betraying Konohagakure and attempting to kill the Shodaime Hokage. It had ruined the reputation of the entire Uchiha clan in the process, and that had ultimately led to Itachi being asked to exterminate his family.

He had no idea if that had been the intent, or if that was just an unintentional result. Maybe it was just some demon deciding that he wanted to destroy something in a methodical, cruel manner. Maybe someone downstairs had wanted to get rid of the Uchiha clan, or maybe they'd just wanted to ruin Uchiha Madara. He wouldn't be able to figure it out without asking the demon in question, but he doubted he'd _ever_ be able to find that exact one.

"Madara," he said quietly, and the ghost turned his attention to Itachi. "Did it... say anything to you? Anything at all, that you can remember?"

A strange, unreadable expression crossed Madara's face for just a moment before he directed his attention towards the door to the roof. " _It said it would tear Konohagakure down for me._ "

"For you?" Itachi immediately asked for clarification.

" _I didn't, don't, never have and never will_ _ **want**_ _to tear down the village,_ " the dead Uchiha muttered, sounding a bit annoyed. " _I think it just wanted to see me suffer, but I don't actually know what the end goal was. I don't know if it accomplished that goal, or anything._ "

Itachi nodded, clearing his throat again and resuming petting Madara's hair. His fingertips were frigid and his entire leg was numb, but he barely noticed it compared to the steadily worsening pain in his chest. He probably ought to go back downstairs.

" _We should probably head back,_ " Madara suddenly said, looking up at him again. " _You don't look too well._ "

He was sure that he hadn't been looking well the entire time they'd been outside, but he didn't comment. Madara sat up, the area his head had been resting immediately regaining it's warmth. The ghost stood up and extended a hand to Itachi, who gratefully took it and allowed himself to be hauled upright.

Of course, immediately after standing up, his chest erupted into a horrible stabbing pain. Almost instantly, he started coughing and had to seek out the fencing that went around the entire roof. He braced himself against it with one hand and found his handkerchief with the other. His timing was good, too, because within seconds after clasping his hand over his mouth, he started spitting up blood.

He could faintly feel Madara's cold hand on his back as the coughing fit subsided. For a long moment, Itachi didn't move. He concentrated on breathing for a few moments before he slowly straightened up and wiped his mouth.

" _You okay?_ " The ghost wanted to know. He nodded and cleared his throat again. He probably shouldn't have let Madara talk him into going up to the roof. He wasn't really in any condition to be wandering around unsupervised.

Just the thought of it irritated him. He didn't like being dependent on others for anything.

He crossed the roof and opened the door to the stairwell, finding himself face-to-face with Izumi's familiar green eyes and Kisame’s very irritated expression. He stared at them, momentarily uncertain as to why they would have been walking up to the roof. Then, he remembered that he was "extremely sick" and didn't know how long he'd been out. They had probably woken up and found that he wasn't anywhere and freaked out.

"Good evening," he greeted, reaching up a hand to rub at his tired eyes. "I was just heading back."

Izumi was scrutinizing him carefully, "How are you feeling?" She wanted to know.

"Horrible," was all he could think of to reply with. "I regret coming up here."

Kisame snorted, "As you should, brat."

He stared at his partner for only about three seconds before he diverted his attention back to Izumi's eyes. Kisame hadn't called him a brat since he was fourteen. He must've given the guy a worse shock than he'd originally thought.

He hummed absentmindedly in reply and started walking forward, Madara right beside him with a hand on his back. Izumi stepped out of the way and followed the living Uchiha down the stairs, and he could feel her eyes on his back. He didn't mind it. He was beginning to feel a bit on the lightheaded side, anyway. The interior of the hotel was _extremely_ warm compared to the outdoors.

When they finally reached their suite, Itachi felt like he was about to collapse. He made a beeline for his bed, which he fell into with absolutely no grace, and was crawling under the covers before Kisame had even finished latching the door. Izumi came around the corner a moment later, looking bothered. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he knew he wouldn't remember what she said.

Izumi pressed her hand to his forehead as soon as he had settled in, and he closed his eyes. Her hand was cool, and it felt nice. "Your fever has gone up, but only a little," she stated, sounding like she felt a bit better about what she'd found.

" _That's a relief,_ " Madara muttered from somewhere near Izumi. " _I think._ "

Itachi nodded slowly, "Can I go to sleep?" He asked quietly, his eyes already closed.

He could practically hear the smile on the irou-nin's face as she gently replied, "Of course you can, honey. I'll check on you in a couple hours."

He was already falling asleep when he faintly heard Izumi exit the room, a distinct click of a lamp being turned off. He could hear Kisame and Izumi (or perhaps that was Kaisuki) talking from the next room, but he didn't pay any attention to the sound.

He felt Madara wordlessly lay down behind him, draping an arm over Itachi's side and burying his face into the back of his neck. To anyone else, it would've been uncomfortably cold and intimate. To the living Uchiha, it was a soothing feeling that only made it that much easier for him to fall asleep. He'd been sharing a bed with Madara since he was ten, so he was very used to the frigid temperature and intimate contact.

The ghost had been touch-starved for over a century, and Itachi wasn't about to complain about being treated with affection instead of hostility.


	6. loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be going on hiatus for an unspecified amount of time after I post chapter 7. I have been unable to write for the entirety of the cold season and I have yet to recover, so I haven't finished chapter 8 yet and I don't know when I will. 
> 
> I will be back on the day of the Summer Solstice (June 20, 2016) at the absolute earliest. Sorry about this. :( I'll start writing again as soon as my brain stops being a cunt.

_"You'd best be careful. Wouldn't want to end up dead, would you?"_

_The halls that stretched on in every direction around him were dimly lit with torches that burned with small flames, as though they were about to go out at any moment. He could hear rushing water. He could smell rotting flesh. He looked down at his feet impulsively, not even sure what had drawn his attention. Black water was rising up out of the cracks in the cobblestone, and when he looked to the walls, he could see it oozing from the spaces between the cement bricks. He watched it carefully, wondering where in the world there was water that black._

_"Of course not. I'll be careful."_

_He wasn't sure why he wasn't nervous about the water that was now lapping at his waist. He continued to stare at it, mesmerized. It swirled around him, reflecting royal purple and cobalt blue and blood red. It bore a crushing weight against him from every direction, continuing to rise and rise until the floor suddenly disappeared below him. He was sinking, sinking, sinking, and he could feel some kind of residual panic from long ago, a memory he didn't remember, the feeling of drowning in more than just water._

_"Then I think it's about time you got a move on. Don't you agree?"_

_Where am I?_

_ " _ _**You're sleeping, remember?** _ _ " _

Itachi woke with a start, instantly forgetting everything he'd just seen and heard. He knew it had been a strange dream, but he didn't remember what had happened in it. He knew his family hadn't been in it, and that fact was odd all by itself. Normally, if he dreamed at all, it was a nightmare that he'd have trouble waking up from quietly. He felt like it had been moderately important. He didn't know why he felt that way, but it was officially bothering him that he'd forgotten the dream because of it.

He straightened up from where he'd been leaning against the tree he'd fallen asleep under a few hours ago. He was assuming it was a few hours ago, anyway. The sun hadn't fully risen yet and they'd first stopped near midnight. He didn't quite remember falling asleep, so he habitually scanned the campsite to ensure that nothing was amiss.

The first thing he noticed was that Kaisuki was absent.

Kisame was slumped up against a nearby tree, eyes closed, breathing relatively evenly. He wasn't sleeping, so he ought to have woken up when Kaisuki had left. Madara was gone as well, and Itachi could figure that he had probably gone off with Kaisuki to see what she was up to. He wasn't sure whether he ought to be concerned about the girl's whereabouts or not.

"Kisame," he called quietly, and his blue-haired partner's eyes immediately opened. Kisame straightened up as well, looking over at him.

"What?" He immediately wanted to know.

Itachi cocked his head towards Kaisuki's bag, "Do you know where she went?"

Kisame blinked, looking over at the spot where their resident Yurei had been, looking surprised. "I didn't know she left."

Itachi's brow furrowed. She was extremely good at disappearing without waking either of them, and he wasn't sure if it was because she was casting some kind of jutsu or if she was really just that good at sneaking around. In all honesty, he couldn't imagine how she could possibly be good enough at either to slip away from two of  _ the most _ notorious criminals in the entire Shinobi Nations, but she had done just that twice.

The only thing was that it didn't really make a whole lot of sense for her to be able to slip away at all, let alone as easily as she did. They were trained to wake up at the slightest disturbance, and there was no way Kaisuki could cast a genjutsu that he couldn't see through. That wasn't even his ego talking; that was a fact. He had yet to meet someone who could cast a genjutsu he couldn't get out of, and he had met and fought a  _ lot _ of people who had first assumed they could trap Uchiha Itachi in a genjutsu.

He heard a rustling sound in the shadows just past the tree that Kaisuki's things sat by. Madara came through first, his face ashen, and he walked over to Itachi mutely and dropped to the ground beside him, pushing his back up against the tree. His breathing was labored, and Itachi could feel the tremor in his shoulders.

Itachi had expected Madara to start spewing forth answers as to where Kaisuki had been, but he didn't. He didn't speak at all. He didn't even lean over to rest his head on Itachi's shoulder. Something terrifying had evidently happened. Madara didn't behave like that unless something had scared him out of his wits, such as Itachi almost being killed by a psychotic demoness.

He waited patiently as the rustling in the shrubbery drew nearer, and a moment later a woman he had never seen before stepped out of the shadows. Her hair was ridiculously long and blonde, and her glaring eyes were a familiar electric blue.

_Is that... Khrai?_

She was hurt pretty badly. She had a hand pressed to a freely-bleeding wound just below her collarbone, and there were countless lacerations decorating her arms. Her lip was split, and her entire left arm was bruised and oozing blood from various sores, in much the same way Kaisuki's had been when she'd disappeared to handle that group of bounty hunters the week before.

Itachi didn't move. He almost wanted to hold his breath. She hadn't looked up from the ground yet, so she evidently hadn't noticed that Kisame and Itachi were conscious. He glanced over at his partner, who met his gaze. He looked bewildered and very concerned, but he also looked like he wasn't sure he wanted to speak yet.

They both returned their attention to the woman Itachi was assuming to be Khrai just as she was walking around the tree, bracing herself against it with her uninjured hand momentarily. It was then that Itachi noticed the pointed ears poking out from under her thick blonde hair. He recalled Madara telling him about them, along with her ridiculous physical strength, and found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her ears.

_"She ripped a guy's head off with one punch."_

_ Was _ she human? Was  _ she _ the one keeping Itachi and Kisame from waking up when Kaisuki left the campsite in the middle of the night? Was there any particular reason for it?

More importantly, what in the Nations had happened to her? Madara had made her sound like an unstoppable force, and yet she had obviously been beaten pretty badly. He watched her hands curl into fists, noting that every bit of her body language was presenting as positively  _ enraged _ . He didn't know who she had fought, but apparently she was a relatively sore loser.

Her shoulder was still bleeding rather profusely, and the blood flow only increased as she clenched her fists to the point of shaking. He glanced over at Kisame again, and saw that his partner was about to say something, when Khrai abruptly let out a wordless snarl and drove her injured left fist into the tree she was standing next to.

There was a loud cracking sound - the sound of wood splitting - that cut through the otherwise silent little clearing. Itachi's eyes widened in shock as the tree pitched backwards, the wood continuing to split and crack with splinters flying. The thick, old oak landed heavily on the trees behind it, the racket of branches snapping becoming ever louder.

For a long moment, even after the noise had died down, Khrai didn't move. She just stood there, shoulders heaving, staring at the wreckage she had created, hand shaking from the damage she had worsened. Itachi had to make a conscious effort to not allow his mouth to drop open. His heart rate was rather significantly elevated, and his chest was beginning to feel tight as a result. He worked to settle himself, wondering faintly if he wanted her to know that he was awake or not.

Not like he could pretend that he was asleep with the amount of noise the blonde spirit had just made.

Abruptly, she turned around and looked directly at him for a brief second, then over at Kisame. She didn't speak. She just leaned her back against the tree and stood there, gasping quietly, her eyes closed and her expression set in a pained grimace. Itachi glanced at his partner again, but Kisame didn't look over at him. The Uchiha couldn't help but notice that his partner was looking increasingly worried with each passing moment of silence.

" _ She lost a fight, _ " Madara suddenly whispered, and Itachi had to make an effort not to flinch at the sudden voice. " _ I don't know who she was fighting, but she lost. _ "

He had figured that much out already, though. What he wanted to know was  _ who _ she had been fighting with.

Finally, Kisame spoke, his voice somewhat subdued. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Itachi looked over at the blue-haired man again. At that point, Kisame wasn't even trying to hide how much he cared about Kaisuki and her spirits. Even if Khrai was crass and bad-tempered, she was part of the package deal that was Kaisuki, and Itachi's partner had come to really like her.

He really hoped no one else in Akatsuki ever found out about her.

Khrai took a couple of wobbly steps away from the tree, her eyes still closed. A a blinding white light erupted from the ground below her, swirling around her and obscuring her completely, and when it was gone, Kaisuki's body was back.

She stepped backwards until her back his the tree again and slid down it until she was sitting on the ground, pressing her hand over her shoulder again. Her face was ashen. She was losing a fair amount of blood. She cleared her throat and looked over at Kisame, her face set in a scowl that very obviously wasn't directed at anyone present.

"It's been a while since I lost a fight," she finally muttered after a lengthy pause. "I don't think I've  _ ever _ lost a fight to a fucking human, so that kind of pisses me off. Although I'm not sure I can call that piece of shit  _ human _ ."

Immediately, Itachi noted that she had directly referred to her opponent as human, while very clearly distancing herself from that method of identification. She really wasn't human, then, unless her semantics were meaningless. He highly doubted that, though.

"How long is a while?" Kisame asked with raised eyebrows.

" _ A while _ ." Khrai ground out irritably. Kisame blinked, looking a little surprised, but he didn't pursue the topic. The spirit then looked over at Itachi, and he could see that her breathing was a bit more labored than it had been when she'd first arrived back at the campsite. They needed to close that wound in her shoulder.

He stood up and crossed the clearing, "Let me see," he requested. She stared at him for a long, long moment, before huffing irritably and dropping her hand from the wound, permitting Itachi to see it. He crouched down so he could get a better look at what he was dealing with.

It was a fair amount worse than he'd been expecting. The edges of the wound were jagged and messy, as though whatever she had been stabbed with had been serrated, and it was bleeding a lot. Stitching it would be nearly impossible. He would have to use irou-ninjutsu to close it as much as he could and then just bandage it.

"Did it go all the way through?" He asked, glancing up at her, only to find that she was staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"No," she replied flatly.

Itachi nodded, returning his attention to the wound. He held his hand over it, concentrating and summoning forth the irou-ninjutsu he'd been trained to use while he'd been in ANBU. It'd been a while since he'd had to use it, but he remembered how to do it.

It only took him a few seconds to stop the bleeding, and only a couple of minutes to heal the worst of the damage. Khrai had already produced a roll of gauze and a roll of tape from Kaisuki's bag, and was handing them to him as he pulled his hands away to inspect his work.

He received the gauze wordlessly once he had deemed his job "well done." Khrai leaned forward and lifted her arm a bit so he could start winding the gauze around her shoulder. He could feel Madara's eyes on his back, but he ignored it. He was sure the ghost was still stressing out, and he still didn't know why. After his encounter with Sumi, he didn't really want to be taking late night walks in the woods, either.

Once he had finished bandaging Khrai's shoulder, Itachi planted his hands on his knees and stood up, walking back over to his spot under his tree and sitting back down. The pain in his chest was worsening. Using his chakra always seemed to make his chest hurt worse when it was aching.

"Khrai," he asked suddenly, looking up at her again. She was already watching him, her expression still unreadable. "What happened? And why couldn't Izumi have taken care of your shoulder?"

For just a moment, he regretted asking. The spirit's expression darkened momentarily, before she let out another angry huff and turned her gaze elsewhere. The silence stretched, but he could tell that she was contemplating whether or not she wanted to answer him.

Finally, she sighed. "Apparently Teara's following you so he can keep an eye on you," Khrai paused, chewing her tongue. Itachi felt Madara stiffen beside him. "He could have killed us, but, as he said, we're 'making his job easier by taking such good care of you.' Pretty fucking sure he knows that Sumi almost killed you. So I guess he's under orders to watch you to keep you safe, which makes sense given the fact that he's never come within half a god damn mile of you. Got no fucking clue why he was given that order, but what-the-fuck-ever. We'll figure that out later."

Itachi didn't say anything in reply (largely because he wasn't sure what would set off her temper), so Khrai continued with an increasingly agitated tone of voice. "Izumi's taking care of Saeka right now, so she's a bit held up at the moment. Kaisuki blacked out from the amount of pain she's in, and I expect she'll be out for a while."

"Is they alright?" Kisame immediately asked. Khrai looked over at him, her lips pursed.

"Kaisuki will be fine, but Saeka's all kinds of fucked up right now," she replied with absolutely no tact. "She's always like that after we have a run-in with Teara."

Kisame hummed in acknowledgment. "Give her our best."

The same unreadable look crossed Khrai's face for a moment, before she turned her gaze away and replied quietly. "Will do."

Itachi had only half-listened to the exchange, as his mind was in other places. Teara had been given an order to keep an eye on him to ensure his safety? Why? Who would have given that order? Obviously it wasn't Sumi, she would've just taken the opportunity to have Itachi killed. They were up to at least two sides, one wanting him dead, the other wanting him alive.

The only real question was: why? The side wanting him dead wasn't as much of a big deal to him. He was sure that Sasuke was going to come looking for him soon enough. What worried him was the side that wanted him alive. Would they go after Sasuke to keep him safe? Would they  _ kill _ Sasuke to keep him safe? He didn't want to even imagine it.

All he could really do was hope that Sasuke would start looking for him  _ soon _ , and that they would be able to get their final battle over with before his little brother was put in harm's way.

...

Following Khrai's spat with Teara, Kaisuki became abnormally quiet.

It wasn't as though Kaisuki wasn't normally quiet, but rather that she wasn't normally _that_ quiet. Kisame had been having a certain amount of trouble drawing her into conversation over the past three days, and he'd noticed that she'd been spacing out a lot and acting very distracted. He didn't know what was going through her head, but he was sure that she would tell them as soon as it pertained to them.

He just wished it would pertain to them already so he could find out what it was. He wasn't exactly known for being patient.

He glanced up at the duo he was traveling with, frowning slightly. They had stopped to take a break because Itachi had been struggling to breathe for the past quarter mile or so (though he hadn't said anything, as usual), and Izumi was giving him a dose of lacelle. She had elected to give him a smaller dose every time he started feeling chest pain, highlighting the importance of keeping the vessels in his lungs from rupturing as much as possible.

_"Itachi, if you want to avoid_ _**dying** _ _ , you need to stop hiding it when your chest starts to hurt." _

The Uchiha hadn't said anything in reply to that.

His partner was in pretty gnarly shape. He couldn't walk for long periods of time before he started having trouble breathing, though he didn't always say anything about it. He'd plod on for an extra two hours before he admitted that he was feeling lightheaded and needed to sit down. Izumi had been handling mini-crisis after mini-crisis for a little over three weeks, and it didn't seem like he was getting any better.

Their resident irou-nin had already informed them that it was going to take a few (if not several) months before Itachi was back where Izumi had had him before Sumi happened. The situation was as close to dire as it could be without Itachi actually being in the process of drowning in his own blood. Kisame understood just how bad the damage had been, and how severe the situation was, and he understood that Izumi was doing everything she could to get Itachi back on track.

Unfortunately, he'd never been known for his patience, and he wasn't really the type to go through the trouble of making a new name for himself.

As Izumi drew her hands back from Itachi's chest, eyes flickering back to red as she stood up, a familiar screech cut through the otherwise silent air. Kisame looked skyward, spotting the hawk that was circling overhead and almost flinching when Kaisuki suddenly whistled ridiculously loudly. He looked down at her, and a moment later a scroll landed on the ground in front of her, and she stooped down to pick it up.

She turned it over and unrolled it silently, eyes scanning the note. Kisame glanced over at Itachi, who met his gaze for a moment before he turned his attention somewhere near the middle distance to his left. That was his silent way of telling Kisame not to ask Kaisuki to read them her mail.

When he looked back over at the Yurei, however, he saw that she had frozen and her eyes were wide in shock. He was about to say something when she lowered the scroll somewhat and glanced at Itachi, and then Kisame, and then back at her letter.

"Sasuke's..." she spoke quietly, and Kisame wondered briefly if he was about to hear an obituary. "Sasuke's killed Orochimaru."

_Well, that took an unexpected turn._

"He's on the move, I guess," Kaisuki continued. Then, with a roll of her eyes, "Probably out hunting Itachi. Fucking twat."

Kisame snorted before he could stop himself. Kaisuki smiled wryly at him before returning her attention to her letter. She walked over to the tree she had dumped her bag next to, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet for a moment and clicking her tongue.

"Naruto wants to see me," she muttered. "He's probably going to try and persuade me to help him pummel Sasuke so they can drag him back home."

"You sound a bit less than enthusiastic about that," Itachi commented disinterestedly.

Kaisuki looked at him, frowning and then shrugging. "I mean, what's the point?" She muttered after a moment, looking highly irritated all of a sudden. "Sasuke's fucked in the head in a lot of different ways. I don't know why Naruto and Sakura couldn't see that before he left, let alone now. No one wants to put him in a psych ward or prison - even though he  _ belongs _ in both - so there's no chance that they'll be able to keep him in Konohagakure. Assuming they can get him there in the first place."

Kisame's eyebrows had risen throughout her tirade, and he continued to observe her as she rolled the scroll back up with a scowl on her face. She seemed to be pretty angry with Sasuke. Kisame obviously didn't have the whole story, but he could sympathize with the bit of the story she had just given him. If the kid didn't want to be in Konohagakure, why were people trying to force him to go back?

_ Whatever _ , he thought indifferently.  _ Not my friend, not my problem. _

"What are you gonna do?" Kisame asked. "Are you gonna go meet up with what's-his-name?"

Kaisuki didn't respond at all for a moment, still staring at the scroll in her hand. Abruptly, she looked up, appearing as though she had only just realized that he'd asked her a question. She opened her mouth and closed it again, before actually starting her reply. "Oh, I'm... I guess I'll meet up with Naruto," she conceded after a brief pause, very obviously distracted. "I'll probably be back in a few days, a week at the most, I think. Dealing with my team while they're obsessing on Sasuke is really..."

Kisame nodded understandingly when she trailed off into silence. "I can see why that would be tough."

"Yea," she replied halfheartedly, dropping the scroll into her open backpack. "I'll get Izumi to prepare some of those herbs and then I'll be on my way. Sorry for this."

He smiled at her. "Nah, don't worry about it. Teams are a pain, I get it," he said with a wink, knowing that she would understand he was specifically referring to Itachi. She smiled at him in response, though the expression didn't look genuine.

An instant later, her eyes were green. Izumi looked every bit as worn out as Kaisuki had. He had never spoken to her about Kaisuki's team, so he didn't know what her views were on the whole mess with Sasuke. He wondered if she was at the same standpoint as her hostess, or if she felt differently about the subject.

He would've asked, but it  _ really _ wasn't his business. He tried not to be nosy, but he really liked to learn all the things he possibly could about the (very few) people he cared about.

Once she had done the zenshin kirikae, it took Izumi no more than ten minutes or so to grow the three plants, pick their leaves and petals, and grind them up into separate containers. The three of them didn't speak the whole time, Kisame simply watching Izumi and Itachi brooding about something. Kaisuki and her spirits seemed to have quite a lot on their separate and shared minds. He sort of wished that he was closer to the four of them so he could offer a bit more than just moral support.

At the same time, of course, he was glad that he had the distance that he did. It was one thing for him and Itachi to be somewhat close - they worked together, they were both missing-nin, and neither of them had anything to gain by doing something horrible to the other (except perhaps bounty money, which wasn't really worth the trouble). Kaisuki wasn't a coworker, wasn't a missing-nin, and Kisame could actually gain a lot for Akatsuki by using her as bait for the kyuubi's jinchuriki.

It would've been best for him to not get to know her as well as he did. Although, he supposed that knowing her that much had kept him from selling her out to Akatsuki. That and Izumi's usefulness as Itachi's doctor. So really, the situation was as good as it could be, given what it was. He ought to stop worrying about it. So long as his employers didn't find out about her, it would be fine.

Izumi clasped the lid on the last container, a swirl of green chakra surrounding her as she switched back into Kaisuki's body. She used a cloth that she unearthed from somewhere in Kaisuki's bag to wipe off the mortar and pestle, before putting all three items away. Kisame glanced at his partner, noting that the Uchiha's attention had been drawn back to Izumi. He still seemed to be deep in thought, even as the irou-nin walked up to him and handed him the three containers.

"This will last you the week," she told Itachi. "Don't take more than four doses of lacelle per day, and don't take them closer than four hours apart."

Itachi nodded stonily, and Izumi smiled at him as she straightened up, eyes switching back to red. Kaisuki walked back over to her bag, picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll see you guys in a few days," she tiredly said. "Don't get killed by the legions of the Underworld while I'm gone."

Kisame snorted, "You should know by now that I am more powerful than any legion, Kaisuki," he grinned. "After all, I can put up with him." He cocked his head towards Itachi, who he was sure was rolling his eyes through the sky.

Kaisuki laughed, the sound much more genuine. He didn't know what she'd been talking about while Izumi had been making up Itachi's meds, but it seemed to have cheered her spirits. He was glad to see it. "Of course, of course. What's a legion of demons compared to Itachi's unparalleled stubbornness?"

He winked at her, and she offered one last wave before jumping up into the trees and taking off through the branches. He watched her back until he couldn't see her anymore, glancing over at Itachi. The Uchiha returned his gaze, his eyes the only thing betraying his amusement. While he didn't let it show, the fact that he could see that much in Itachi's expression came as a bit of a surprise to Kisame. Itachi didn't show much. He only laughed or smiled when he was delirious with a high fever.

Kisame smirked at his partner, and in an instant, the spark of amusement in Itachi's eyes disappeared. He was only slightly disappointed.

Itachi sighed heavily and got up, prompting Kisame to follow his lead. The Uchiha glanced towards the sky briefly to see which direction was which based on the position of the sun, and then started walking towards the southeast. He didn't know what was in that direction that his partner wanted to go to, but he supposed he'd find out eventually. Itachi sometimes didn't tell him things. Actually, Itachi didn't tell him things all the time.

They walked in silence for nearly an hour before his partner spoke in a subdued voice, as though he thought someone might be listening:

"Kisame, I need to ask you for a favor."

...

It sort of upset him to think that waiting for Kaisuki to arrive at a meet-up location had become an anxiety-inducing activity.

Naruto frowned at his nails and started picking his cuticles. She would be arriving in a short while, and he felt like he was about to have a heart attack. Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei weren't with him. They were out scouting the area, looking for any clues. They had tracked Sasuke to the spot where Naruto was waiting for Kaisuki with one of Kakashi-sensei's dogs, but the trail had completely disappeared. So, they were looking around to see if they could find where it started up again.

He was more anxious because he was alone.

He felt like every time he saw her, they grew further apart. Naruto used to tell Kaisuki everything, and she used to tell him everything. Since Sasuke had left, they'd basically stopped talking. They still exchanged letters, but the frequency of those letters had been getting scarcer and scarcer as time had worn on.

Kaisuki didn't approve of Naruto's mission to bring Sasuke home. That was all there was to it. She had told him on multiple occasions that it wasn't right for them to be trying to force him to be somewhere that he obviously didn't want to be. She had told them that whatever happened to him was his problem, and they shouldn't be sticking their noses where they weren't wanted.

His responses had been something along the lines of "don't you care at  _ all _ ?" and "but what if something terrible happens to him? What if he gets  _ killed _ ?" He couldn't tell if she cared at all. He couldn't tell if she was worried about Sasuke the same way Sakura and he were. He had a feeling she wasn't, but he didn't want to discredit her. He knew that she had cared for the Uchiha just as much as the rest of the team, so how could she disregard the issue of his safety so easily?

Did she really not care anymore? He'd been asking himself that question ever since she'd told him that she wouldn't help him bring Sasuke home when he'd first left almost two years ago. He'd only met up with Kaisuki a handful of times since she'd left Konohagakure for her "journey of self-discovery" (those were her words, not his), and just about every time he'd seen her, they'd gotten into a fight over Sasuke.

He picked on his finger a little too much and it started to bleed. He frowned and stuck the appendage in his mouth, adjusting the way he was sitting on the ground and scowling at the grass. She had said she ought to make it to their meeting spot in the early afternoon, so she ought to be arriving soon. The knowledge wasn't helping his nerves at all.

There was a rustling in the trees and he looked up in time to see Kaisuki land on one of the branches above him. He quickly got up as she dropped to the ground, looking exceedingly worn out.

"Hey, Kaisuki," he greeted. She smiled tiredly at him.

"Hey, Naruto," she returned. Then, after the briefest pause, she asked, "So, are you going to try to convince me to help you track down Sasuke again?"

The bluntness was scathing, and Naruto almost wanted to wince at her tone. He wasn't even sure what to say for a long moment. She waited patiently, her face set in an unreadable expression. He didn't want to admit that she was right, but she was. Or at least, she was partially right.

"Yes and no," Naruto finally conceded after a lengthy lapse in the conversation. "I... before I wanted to ask you for a favor, I wanted to know if you'd heard anything about him while you've been out and about. Ever since he killed Orochimaru, I hear he's been popping up randomly without any form of a pattern. I think he's probably looking for Itachi now, but... I dunno. Have you heard or seen anything?"

Kaisuki's expression darkened momentarily at the mention of Itachi, before she directed her gaze towards the ground for a moment. With a slightly annoyed sigh, she looked up and replied, "No, I haven't heard anything at all."

Naruto's mood was immediately dampened. Not only was it impossible for him to tell if she was lying or not (her answer had seemed harsher than he felt was necessary), it seemed like it didn't matter who he asked or where he went, no one heard or saw anything about Sasuke. His missing teammate was better as eluding people than anyone Naruto had ever heard of. And his pattern of movement didn't make any sense at all. It seemed like he was wandering about aimlessly, but Naruto knew he had to be looking for Itachi.

But even that was a dead end. If there was anyone better at avoiding attention than Sasuke, it was probably Itachi. He wondered faintly if Sasuke would ever be able to find his brother, in much the same way he wondered if he'd ever find his teammate.

Kaisuki frowned at him, though the expression almost looked like a scowl. "You're really going to keep looking for him? Even though there's no way Orochimaru will be able to do anything horrible to him? He's as far out of danger as he could be at this point."

"Yea," Naruto replied a little more heatedly than he'd wanted. "I'm gonna bring his ass home one way or another. I called you out here because I wanted to know if you'd heard anything, but also because I wanted to ask if you could-..."

"No," Kaisuki cut him off before he could even make his request, glaring at him. "We've been over this a thousand fucking times, Naruto. I'm not going to fuel your obsessive stalking. I refuse to have anything to do with it."

"And you still haven't given me any form of a reason why!" He snapped angrily, "Are you really so selfish that you don't care at all about your teammates?"

He knew that was the wrong thing to say the instant he said it. Kaisuki's expression stilled for a moment, her eyes glazing over for just a second, before she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and exploded at him. " _ I'm _ selfish! _? _ If anyone's  _ selfish  _ around here, it's you and Sakura! You don't care about  _ Sasuke _ , you care about yourselves!" She snarled with increasing volume. "You don't want to deal with the fact that he wants nothing to do with you lot, so you're going to force him to come back? How can you call yourself his friend if you can't even respect his fucking decision!? That's  _ basic _ , Naruto. If you can't respect his decisions, you're not his friend; you're another one of his fucking  _ fangirls _ ."

Kaisuki looked like she wanted to hit him, but Naruto already felt like he'd been slapped. He stared at her, dumbfounded, for a long moment. He was furious with her, but he couldn't find his words. They had been fighting a lot, yes, but Kaisuki had been very clearly holding herself back from yelling at Team 7 about Sasuke. Apparently, for whatever reason, she had decided that holding her tongue wasn't worth it.

Was something going on that he didn't know about? He wouldn't have been surprised. She had stopped telling him things a while ago, so he didn't know what was _ really _ going on with her. For all he knew, there was some kind of crisis going on that he had no idea about. He didn't know. He couldn't possibly know if she didn't tell him, and he'd been getting the feeling since she'd left Konohagakure that she'd been hiding a lot from him.

Before he could reply, Kaisuki's eyes suddenly flashed pink and widened hugely. She turned around, looking back the way she'd come, her whole body stiffening. Naruto stared at her, confused.

"S-Saeka-chan, what's-..."

"They're fighting," she whispered so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

Naruto blinked, his stomach dropping. "Who's fighting?" He asked, even though he was relatively certain that he already knew the answer.

"Itachi and Sasuke," Saeka-chan muttered, still speaking very quietly. Naruto was just leaning in so he could hear her better when she suddenly growled furiously, "I'll  _ kill him. _ "

Without another word, she took off. Without knowing who exactly she was going to go kill, Naruto couldn't possibly just let her go off without him. He took off after her, running at a full sprint just to keep up, and even then she was pulling away.

He started flaring his chakra to let Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan know that he was on the move. They would probably catch up soon enough. Probably. He didn't know, he was moving pretty fast in an effort to keep up with Saeka-chan. He was pretty sure that she could move with unmatched speed. She was very clearly not moving as fast as she possibly could (it looked like she was  _ jogging _ ), which implied to Naruto that she wanted him to keep up.

Maybe. She was still getting further away. Maybe Kaisuki's body just couldn't move as fast as Saeka-chan's.

_ Whatever _ .

His heart was pounding. Sasuke and Itachi were fighting. What if Sasuke lost? Itachi was pretty amazingly powerful. Although, Sasuke had to have gotten really strong over the past three years. Otherwise he wouldn't be challenging Itachi again... right? He didn't know. Sasuke had been impatient enough to almost get himself killed fighting Itachi in the past. He'd killed Orochimaru, though, so that had to mean that he was much,  _ much _ stronger than Naruto was giving him credit for. Maybe he  _ could _ beat Itachi.

More importantly, if he  _ did _ beat Itachi, would he return to Konohagakure? If he achieved his goal, he'd have no reason to stay away, right?

_ "How can you call yourself his friend if you can't even respect his fucking decision! _ ? _ " _

She was right, in a way, and he knew it. He'd known it from the start. He'd understood from the get-go that he was being immensely selfish, that he and Sakura were being terrible excuses for friends. But that didn't change anything to him. He just wanted his friend back. Kaisuki and Sasuke had grown very far apart, so it made sense to Naruto that she could distance herself from his poor decision-making skills, but that didn't change anything for him and Sakura. They couldn't just take a step back and accept that Sasuke... that Sasuke...

_"You don't want to deal with the fact that he wants nothing to do with you lot, so you're going to force him to come back?"_

His eyes were burning, and he wiped them in frustration. Saeka-chan was still pulling away. He couldn't move any faster than he already was. He couldn't keep up with her. If she got there first, which of them was she going to "kill?" Was she going to actually kill either of them, or would she just break up their fight? How would she go about doing that? The last thing he wanted was for Saeka-chan to freak out and kill Sasuke, but knowing her opinion of him, that was probably exactly what was going to happen.

Why would she defend Itachi over Sasuke, though? Itachi had done a horrible,  _ horrible _ thing to their teammate. Itachi was a notorious criminal. Everyone knew his name, and everyone knew him as the scum of the earth. He wasn't a good person. He was a cold-blooded murderer, and he had traumatized Sasuke almost beyond the point of repair.

Naruto just didn't know what Saeka-chan was thinking, and he couldn't possibly figure it out without talking to her. Unfortunately, she was way ahead of him and he couldn't keep up. What was he going to do? How far away were Itachi and Sasuke? Would they get there in time? He didn't really know what Saeka-chan's sensory range was. For all he knew, they could be a couple of miles away. If that was the case, they definitely wouldn't get there in time.

_Well, Saeka-chan might._

He suddenly noticed that the girl he'd been following had stopped moving. He stopped on a branch just behind her, looking over her shoulder at the duo standing in their way: Hoshigaki Kisame and a masked man that Naruto had never seen before.

His blood ran cold. He hadn't laid eyes on Kisame since the day he'd met him. He didn't know if he would be enough to take him out. Would Saeka-chan be enough? And who was that man in the mask? Were they actually blocking their path? He cursed internally. What were they going to do?

He saw his friend's hand clench into impossibly tight fists, and he swallowed hard. He had a feeling Saeka-chan had switched out with Khrai. The younger spirit didn't clench her fists because she was used to having ten inch talons for fingers. She usually splayed her fingers, instead.

Kisame straightened up from where he'd been leaning against the trunk of a tree, cracking his knuckles and glancing at the man standing beside him. Something about the one with the mask was giving him the chills. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't like it.

"Get the  _ fuck _ out of my way," the voice that came out of Kaisuki's mouth definitely wasn't Saeka-chan's anymore. Even though he hadn't heard it in a long time, Naruto still recognized the sound of Khrai's voice.

"Sorry," the masked man replied in a sing-song voice. "No trespassers!"


	7. minor changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I am going on hiatus until the day of the Summer Solstice (June 20th) at the earliest.

_"Don't let Kaisuki through, no matter what."_

Kisame had been hoping that she wouldn't show at all, that no one would try to breach his perimeter at all. It would be one thing if the rest of Kaisuki's team showed up; Kisame wouldn't have a problem kicking them around until Itachi was dead. He had been praying to whoever paid attention upstairs that she wouldn't come in time, that he would already have left because the battle was over when she finally started heading that way. Even though he wasn't a sensory type, he had been able to feel the increasingly large bursts of energy from a mile or so away.

By the time Kaisuki had appeared before him, he'd been expecting the air to go still and quiet within another ten to twenty minutes or so.

"I swear to fuck," Khrai snarled. "Do not make me tell you again."

He didn't expect Itachi to win, and he was sure that Kaisuki and her spirits didn't either. That had to be why she was fully prepared to kill him to get where she was going. The Uchiha wasn't doing very well. Kisame was surprised that he'd lasted as long as he apparently had.

"Sorry," the blue-haired Akatsuki member replied with a sigh. "A promise is a promise."

Something shifted in Khrai's expression for just an instant. Then, the look on her face changed to an unbridled fury, and his heart twisted at the thought that that anger was directed at him. He didn't know if she could tell how much it was killing him to just let his partner die, or if she could tell how much he didn't want to have to fight her. He was doing his best to keep his features schooled to indifference, but it was hard.

He supposed she was probably going to hate him by the end of the day.

_"Promise me... you won't ever tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."_

_"That makes it sound kind of serious."_

_"I'm not supposed to tell_ _**anyone** _ _about this, Kisame. Please, promise me you'll_ _**never** _ _tell anyone."_

_"I... promise, Itachi-san. What's wrong? Are you alright?"_

He was still nauseous. That conversation was almost a day old.

He wished he could just tell Kaisuki, so she'd understand. But he understood - probably more than anyone else at that point - just how important it was to Itachi that the whole thing stay a secret. He would keep his word beyond his dying breath. No one would ever know that he knew. It was his partner's final request, and he wasn't about to disrespect the dying wish of Uchiha Itachi, noblest soul in all the Shinobi Nations.

He could see a bruise forming near the elbow of Khrai's hostess, and he watched it slowly spread down her arm as she suddenly reared back a fist. In an instant, he realized what she was doing, and he instinctively shoved Tobi to the side and dodged out of the way as she released a blast of her corrosive energy. He hadn't moved far enough, and he felt it just graze his shoulder. It was a searing pain that sent a shock through his body, and she'd barely nicked him. He didn't want to know what might've happened if he'd taken that even just a little more directly.

Khrai launched herself at him and Kisame didn't bother trying to block, instead hitting the side of her wrist to send her punch off course. He couldn't use Samehada to drain Khrai's chakra - it'd probably destroy the poor thing. He could feel it cringing, not wanting anything to do with his current opponent.

Tobi was standing up from where Kisame had shoved him to the ground, and he saw a kunai come out seconds before Uzumaki Naruto jumped into the fray, throwing himself at the other Akatsuki member. They both went flying across the small clearing that was their battlefield. He blocked out the sound of Naruto hollering attacks and Tobi laughing mockingly, concentrating on not letting Khrai hit him directly.

He didn't want to hurt her, but if he wanted to keep her from going after Itachi, he didn't have much of a choice. He drew a kunai in the midst of dodging another attack and lashed out with it. Khrai barely managed to avoid the attack, and he didn't let up, swinging with the kunai and his fist interchangeably. Khrai wasn't a weapons-user but she couldn't block a kunai with her arm, so she was forced to redirect and dodge for the most part. He knew he couldn't give her a chance to swing, because she would take him out in one punch if he gave her the opportunity.

If she could down a tree with a single blow, she could put her fist through his chest without a problem. He didn't know if she _would_ , but he didn't want to risk it. He didn't want to bet whether he was important enough to them for Khrai to spare his life or not. He knew how important Itachi was to Kaisuki, simply because of all that she'd done for him at the risk of ruining her own life. He was close to positive that she would kill him if it meant saving Itachi.

So suddenly that it startled Kisame and Khrai (and probably Naruto and Tobi) into stillness, there was an earth-shattering _bang_ that split through the air. It had sounded like thunder, but louder. Much, _much_ louder. He wanted to look and see what it was, but Khrai's eyes were wild as she suddenly kicked it into high gear and started swinging again.

Abruptly, her eyes flashed red for just an instant, before returning to blue again as she swung directly at his face with her left arm. He barely managed to avoid the speed of her punch, and he felt his back hit a tree. Khrai swung again and he leaned to the side to avoid it, a sickening crunch informing him that the the spirit had just broken Kaisuki's knuckles, perhaps most of her hand.

Her eyes flickered to red again and they started to water, her movements hesitating for just a second or two. He took advantage of the moment and grabbed her throat roughly, slamming her to the ground as hard as he dared, planting a his knee on her hip and holding his kunai at the ready in a way that he hoped was relatively threatening.

Her eyes were wide, flashing between blue and red, and her expression had gone completely blank. It seemed like Kaisuki and Khrai were fighting over who was going to control the Yurei's body. He was just doubting that Kaisuki was going to win that fight when her eyes abruptly settled on Saeka's familiar pink. He could feel Kaisuki's body temperature rising almost frighteningly fast, to the point where his hand was starting to hurt where he was holding her by the throat.

The youngest of the spirits stared up at him, and he could see the pain in her eyes as clear as day. His stomach flopped, but he didn't look away. He hoped she could see how much he understood how she felt. He hoped she could see that he didn't want to fight her, that he wanted nothing more than to let her go save Itachi. He felt like his poker face was wavering, but he didn't know if it was actually revealing anything.

"Saeka," he spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. Tobi and Naruto wouldn't hear him. "I'm sorry... but please don't make me hurt you."

She didn't reply at first, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears. He still wanted to look away, but he waited. Saeka didn't like to speak much when she was upset, but he was sure that she would say something. He could tell that she wanted to. Then, her tears spilled out of her eyes and her lower lip started to tremble, and he had a feeling he knew what was wrong.

Then, she softly said: "Itachi's dead."

Kisame stared at her only long enough to really take in the atmosphere. The air, which had been charged with chakra that was spilling out from jutsu being used a mile away, was still and quiet. Everything had calmed down. He retracted his hand from her throat and stood up, holstering his kunai as he went, and turned to Naruto and Tobi. They hadn't moved very far away. Tobi had to have seriously worn out Naruto just by running around and letting the younger shinobi expend a bunch of chakra trying to hit him _anything_ , because his fellow Akatsuki member was still laughing and Naruto looked both furious and exhausted.

"Tobi!" He hollered, ignoring Saeka getting up beside him as he started walking towards Tobi. Both he and Naruto had turned to Kisame, and he continued, "We're done here."

Naruto blanched, but Kisame didn't bother to talk to him. Tobi stared at him for a moment before asking in a much different voice than usual, "Is he dead?"

"Yea," he replied simply. "You'd best grab his body before these kids get there and steal it."

He felt a burst of heat to his right a moment before Saeka suddenly said, "Naruto, I'm going ahead."

Naruto blinked, switching his attention to the girl standing somewhere behind Kisame, "What? Wait, Saeka, don't-..."

Before the blond could finish, Saeka took off past Kisame, past Naruto, and past Tobi, moving far too fast for any of them to really see her. Naruto looked back at Kisame and Tobi warily, uncertain as to whether or not he wanted to move. The blue-haired Akatsuki member shifted his attention to his fellow member, who sighed loudly.

"Well, then I'll get over there quick," he announced, sounding rather bored. "I'll see you later, Kisame."

He grunted in reply, and a moment later the Akatsuki member had disappeared into thin air. Naruto glanced at Kisame one last time, before taking off at a run and leaping off into the trees. Saeka was probably hoping that, if she got there fast enough, Izumi would be able to save Itachi. But they were a little over a mile away, and it would take her longer than three minutes to get there. There was no chance of survival.

His partner of seven years was dead.

Kisame wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it. He wished he hadn't had to sour his relationship with Kaisuki in order to fulfill that promise, but he supposed it was fine. Akatsuki might've eventually cottoned on to the fact that Kaisuki and he were friends, and the girl would've gotten hurt. At least this way, he wouldn't have to worry about it. She wasn't vengeful, either, so she wouldn't have a reason to go looking for him.

Itachi was dead and he'd probably never see Kaisuki again.

He sighed heavily, looking up at the sky. Clouds were rolling in from the direction of Sasuke and Itachi's battlefield. Deep rumbles of thunder shook the air, and it seemed like it would rain. He turned in a random direction, away from where the others were headed, and started walking. He hadn't been completely alone in a long while, but he hadn't missed the feeling.

_Guess I'm back to square one._

...

Kaisuki wanted to disappear.

Not _die_ . Disappear. In much the same way Saeka always did when she was upset. She didn't really have the option of isolating herself in her memories like the youngest spirit did. She couldn't run and hide to escape from the emotional typhoon that was raging within her. Even if she was alone, she wasn't _alone_. Khrai and Izumi and Saeka were always with her, and it was comforting in some ways, and terrible in others. She had no way of escaping "others," and just thinking about it wore her out.

Itachi and Sasuke were gone. She was caught somewhere between unrelenting anger and nauseating anxiety. On the one hand, she was furious at Sasuke for killing Itachi, and she was furious at Itachi for going and getting himself killed, and she was furious at Kisame for keeping her from saving Itachi. She didn't know what Itachi had said to his partner to persuade him to keep Kaisuki from getting to their battlefield on time, but she wasn't sure she cared. She was nowhere _near_ as mad as Khrai, but she was still pretty angry. She didn't wish death upon either Sasuke or Kisame, but she wanted to punch them both hard enough to break bone.

Khrai's impossible fury had driven her into the furthest reaches of Kaisuki's mind to "let off some steam." The Yurei had gotten the impression that the elf was trying to refrain from hunting down and butchering Sasuke and Kisame.

Alongside all of that anger, though, was fear for Sasuke's safety. He wasn't in the area, so far as Saeka could tell (Kaisuki was endlessly proud of the girl for not disappearing as well). He shouldn't have had enough chakra to move, let alone disappear off Saeka's radar in the amount of time he'd had. All Kaisuki could think of was Teara's words.

 _"I'm following him so I can make sure he doesn't get himself_ _**killed** _ _."_

What if he had made off with Sasuke? Saeka had told Itachi that Teara liked to break people for fun, and Itachi had been Teara's responsibility. She didn't know if he would get in trouble since the Uchiha had been killed. She didn't know if he would be angry with Sasuke for taking his charge's life. She and her spirits had seen neither hide nor hair of Teara since his run-in with Khrai. For all they knew, Itachi was no longer his problem.

Then there was that masked man who had been with Kisame, who had supposedly come through to collect Itachi's corpse. Obviously he'd done what he'd said he was going to do, but had he picked Sasuke up while he'd been at it? Why would he do such a thing?

_What the fuck is going on?_

She turned around to start walking back the way she'd come, startling herself when she nearly walked into Naruto. They had caught up, then. She stared at the ground a few feet ahead of her and walked around him. She didn't want to spend another moment looking at the carnage the two brothers had wrought upon what had once been an Uchiha hideout. The whole building was in so many pieces, there was no way to tell what the place had even looked like before Sasuke and Itachi had started fighting.

_"A promise is a promise."_

"Kaisuki? Where are you going?" Naruto called after her. She stopped abruptly, but didn't turn around.

"Home," she quietly replied. She wasn't even sure if he had heard her, but she didn't care. She continued walking, not bothering to see if the rest of her team was following after her. They'd all end up back in Konohagakure. They all knew the way. They didn't need to travel together. She could go home an hour ahead of them. It didn't matter.

At that moment, she felt like nothing mattered.

She was sure it wasn't permanent. Eventually she'd get over it. Soon or later, she'd get past the jarring shock of realizing that the one thing she had been striving to prevent at all costs, had happened. Her worst nightmare, essentially, had happened. She'd been doing everything in her power to keep Itachi alive, and he'd gone and gotten himself killed anyway.

How long had he been plotting to fight Sasuke while she was away? Was it recent? Was it as recent as him hearing that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru? Had he thought he could win? She didn't imagine why he would - after his one-sided fight again Sumi, he knew for a fact that he _couldn't_ fight. She didn't even know how he'd managed to last as long as he evidently had without starting to spit up blood.

" _Kaisuki,_ " Saeka's suddenly spoke in a small voice. Kaisuki faintly wondered where Izumi was, but she didn't ask. The irou-nin was probably hiding out somewhere until she calmed down. She knew how much Izumi had adored Itachi.

Saeka, who had paused momentarily, continued. " _Are you okay? What are we gonna do?_ "

She didn't reply for a long few moments, and she could feel Saeka's presence starting to fade away as a result. Finally, she replied dully, " _I'm going home for a while. Just until I can pull myself together._ " She didn't bother answering the first question.

She was surprised that her practical nature had remained intact. It felt like everything else about her was gone. She knew, logically, that she couldn't just sit around and wallow in self-pity forever. She needed to find Sasuke, and she needed to resume tracking Teara. She couldn't really even afford to be going back to Konohagakure to take a break. Sasuke could be in danger for all she knew. She ought to just go back to what she was doing and try to push through the feeling of loss.

_"A promise is a promise."_

She wanted to find Kisame, as well. The huge man didn't have anyone else, she was reasonably certain. Akatsuki wasn't a good place to find friends, and Itachi had been his partner for seven years. Kisame hadn't been alone in all that time, and he probably thought she hated him after Khrai basically tried to kill him. Even if he decided he wanted nothing more to do with her, she wanted to apologize for Khrai's actual attempt on his life.

She had had to fight tooth and nail with Khrai to make her pull punches and stop trying to go for the kill. The elf's anger had been close to berserk. It had startled Kaisuki how angry she was, but then, as she'd realized what was happening, she'd become frightened. Not for her own safety, not for fear of sustaining her own injuries (such as her extremely broken knuckles), but because she had seen that Khrai was trying to _kill_ Kisame. Without any form of remorse, she had gone in for the kill in a blind rage.

It reminded her of how Saeka had been when Kaisuki was younger.

_"I'm sorry..."_

She would find him and they would talk, but... later. She needed to give herself at least a day or two to lock herself up in her bedroom and not speak to anyone. She was sure her team was worried. She was sure they were confused as to why she was acting the way she was acting. Sasuke wasn't dead, so far as they knew, so she had no reason to be upset.

They still didn't know she'd been traveling with the late Uchiha and his partner. She didn't want to tell them. She probably wouldn't, despite Izumi and Khrai's advice. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them. If they found out later and disowned her for it...

 _Well_ , she thought bitterly. _I'll already be all set up for my life as a missing-nin if that happens._

...

Kaisuki wasn't entirely sure why she had thought that she'd be able to sit still for more than a couple of days.

By the third day of her "break," she was already gone. She had purposefully avoided her team during her short stay in Konohagakure, because she didn't want to deal with their questions about why she had been so devastated when Sasuke hadn't been killed. She didn't have any answers for them, so she avoided the questions altogether.

The feeling of loss and grief was still strong, but the anger towards Sasuke and Kisame had dissipated in record time. She was hurting, but she wasn't crippled by it. What was important was that she secure Sasuke's safety and get back to hunting Teara to figure out what exactly he was up to.

Although, she felt that it was _more_ important that she find Kisame and talk to him. He had never mentioned anyone else by name with any amount of fondness, so she could figure that he was probably dealing with Itachi's death on his own, and that wasn't okay with her. He had really, genuinely cared for his partner. Kaisuki had seen firsthand just the kind of panic he'd immediately succumb to when Itachi was having a major health crisis. He was good at handling that panic, but it was still there and it was usually visible in his eyes.

She vividly remembered the look on his face as Izumi had been resuscitating Itachi.

The trees flew past her as she leaped through their branches. She didn't know where Kisame was. She'd been traveling for a two days, and Saeka had yet to pick up on his chakra signature. She still had a few hours of sunlight left, though, so she didn't let up. She was determined to find Itachi's partner, and every moment she was resting was a moment she could've been searching.

She wondered if the way she was feeling about finding Kisame was how Sakura and Naruto felt about finding Sasuke. The only real difference was that she was reasonably certain that Kisame didn't hate her, and she doubted he would be trying to avoid her.

" _I can feel him_ ," Saeka suddenly said, surprising Kaisuki. " _A mile and a half north of us. Take a hard left and go straight._ "

Kaisuki obediently switched her direction upon landing on the next branch. She was closing in on the western borders of Hi no Kuni, nearest to Ame no Kuni. Ame no Kuni was not an ally of Konohagakure. She wasn't entirely sure how many miles she was from that border, but she hoped it was a decent distance.

" _Saeka, can you tell which direction he's walking?_ " Kaisuki asked, frowning worriedly. She didn't want to have to sneak into Ame no Kuni.

Saeka hummed, and then replied, " _Feels like he's heading towards us, actually. You should be running into him in... I'd say thirty minutes, at this pace._ "

" _Okay, thanks._ " She replied quickly. The fact that Kisame was heading towards her was a bit of a relief, but she couldn't help wondering why he'd been so close to (if not within) the borders of Ame no Kuni. How had he even gotten in? Ame no Kuni was an isolationist country, much like Tsuki no Kuni. They didn't let people who weren't natives into the country. They didn't accept refugees, they didn't accept immigrants, they didn't accept _anyone_ who didn't have proof that they lived there.

Although, she supposed she was jumping to conclusions. For all she knew, he was just aimlessly wandering around the borders of the other countries. For all she knew, he was picking up a client on the border of Ame no Kuni. She couldn't be sure what was going on until she saw him.

She could feel a pit of anxiety forming in her stomach. She was afraid that he might not forgive her for Khrai going berserk on him, or that he might just not want anything to do with her now that Itachi was out of the picture, or any other number of scenarios. If he thought she hated him, all she had to do was correct him. But if _he_ hated _her_ , she didn't know what she would do.

Kisame didn't come across as the type to hold an unnecessary grudge, but Khrai had tried to kill him. Whether it had been Kaisuki's will or not, it was inexcusable. She needed to figure out a way to overpower Khrai so that she could when she needed to.

The elf had yet to return from her disappearance. It'd only been a couple of days, though, and Khrai _was_ the type to stay angry for a long time. Izumi had been coming and going, sticking around for a few hours at a time until something reminded her of her emotional agony and she felt the need to go off and be alone for periods of time.

Saeka was the only one of the three spirits who had been consistently present, and while Kaisuki was very thankful for it, she couldn't help wondering _why_ Saeka had stuck around. Normally, when something terrible happened and the youngest spirit was upset, she would retreat as far back as she could go to hide. Kaisuki had wondered periodically if she was sticking around because she didn't want to be alone, or if she was in denial, or if she was just not as affected as the rest of them. It was strange because Saeka had _adored_ Itachi, for reasons that her hostess didn't know.

She supposed that it might just be the result of the girl learning better coping mechanisms through watching her hostess. If that were the case, Kaisuki couldn't help feeling a bit proud of herself for teaching the most emotionally volatile of her spirits how to remain calm in the face of tragedy.

" _You're coming up on him,_ " Saeka told her, startling her out of her thoughts. " _You should drop out of the trees, he's not up in the branches._ "

Kaisuki did as told and got herself down to ground level, realizing that she had been traveling over a narrow, unkempt path. She started off at a brisk pace, looking around herself warily. The path she was on probably led straight to Ame no Kuni, hence why it was so unkempt. The fact that Kisame was on it was further convincing her that he had to be coming from the hostile isolationist country. With any amount of luck, she wouldn't run into border patrol.

She turned her attention to the area in front of her and spotted a familiar spark of blue. Before her anxiety could get the better of her, she started walking faster and called out, "Kisame!"

She wasn't entirely sure when she'd stopped referring to him as "Kisame-san," but he hadn't minded so she hadn't worried about it. She saw him look up and suddenly stop walking, surprise (if not wariness) showing clearly in his expression. She grinned before she could help herself and jogged over to him.

"Hi," she greeted a little breathlessly once she had reached him. "Firstly, I just wanted to apologize for Khrai trying to kill you. I don't hate you, I'm not even mad at anyone, I'm just really fucking confused as to everything that happened and... well, we can talk about that shit later." She paused, her eyebrows knitting together as she scrutinized Kisame carefully. He was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and she wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Secondly," she continued, speaking a bit slower than she had been. "I've been worrying about you for a few days, since Itachi's... I mean, I didn't have any reason to think you have anyone else you can call a friend. So... are you okay?"

Kaisuki could sort of tell that asking after his welfare had surprised Kisame, even though he didn't really show it. He was still staring at her, but his expression hadn't changed. For a moment, she wondered if he was considering whether or not he believed that she didn't hate him.

But, after a pregnant silence, the lacking expression on his face shifted into a sad smile. She'd never seen him look so tired. He reached out and patted her head affectionately, and she could feel that something was different. Something had changed. She didn't know what, but something had happened outside of Itachi's death.

"You're a good kid, Kaisuki," he said softly, lowering his hand with a sigh. "I'm glad you're back and alright."

She frowned slightly, "What happened?" She asked bluntly, "Outside of... yea."

He chuckled, the sound rather hollowed. "We should walk while we talk," he said, starting around her. She turned on the ball of her foot and followed after him. After a long few moments of silence, Kisame started talking again. "I'm ditching Akatsuki."

Kaisuki almost stopped in her tracks. Instead, she quickly looked up at him, both startled and confused. "Why?" She wanted to know, even though she was reasonably certain it was absolutely none of her business.

"Because," he began, looking around warily. "Teara joined, and Pain and Konan were acting strange."

"Pain and Konan?" She repeated.

Kisame glanced at her as he started unbuttoning the uniform cloak that Akatsuki members wore, before tossing the article of clothing off the path. "They were my employers."

Kaisuki nodded. "Acting strange how?"

"I'm not sure how to describe it," he replied slowly. "They seemed too familiar with him, even though they supposedly only met him today. They're usually pretty distant, even with me, and I've known them for a decade."

She already had a bad feeling. Khrai was still missing in action, so she couldn't ask for her opinion, but if she had to guess what Teara was doing in Akatsuki, she would assume that he was going to take over Akatsuki via demonic possession. If Teara had all the members of Akatsuki under his sway, he would be an even more dangerous enemy than he already was. If the other members were even half as skilled and strong as Itachi and Kisame, it would be a big problem for them to _all_ be possessed.

She wanted to tell her team, to warn Konohagakure and literally everyone else in the Shinobi Nations, but no one outside of her hometown would believe the story about demons until they saw it for themselves, and she couldn't explain how she'd come by the information without revealing that she was traveling with Hoshigaki Kisame. She would just have to try and handle the situation herself, if it was at all possible. She wished more than anything that Khrai would get over herself and return from wherever she'd disappeared to, but she knew that the elf took forever (at least compared to Kaisuki) to get past even the smallest thing once it had set her off.

"What are you planning to do?" Kisame asked, glancing over at her. "Gonna go back to tracking Teara?"

Kaisuki scowled at the ground ahead of her, before nodding slowly. "Yea," she replied. "Nothing better to do, and I want to know what the fuck he's doing."

There was a brief pause before she suddenly recalled the other thing she needed to do, "Oh! Hey, this is kind of... well, I guess it's not really random, but... whatever, have you heard or seen anything regarding Sasuke? He wasn't at that place he and Itachi were fighting, and he wasn't on Saeka's radar. He should've been too tired and injured to _move_ , and I... I'm worried that Teara may have made off with him or something."

Kisame hummed thoughtfully before slowly replying, "No, I haven't seen or heard anything. Teara also looked... I don't know if I wanna say agitated, but that's the only word that's coming to mind. If he'd already exacted his revenge on Sasuke for killing Itachi-san, he'd probably have been in a better mood."

Kaisuki nodded, frowning. Where _was_ the remaining Uchiha, then? "Who was that masked guy you were with the other day? Is he sketchy enough to kidnap Sasuke?"

Kisame snorted. "His name is Tobi, and... I don't know about him, honestly. He wasn't there to greet Teara, which he should've been if he was a real member, because we always get together when someone joins the main ranks. I'd heard of him, but never laid eyes on him until he showed up while I was keeping perimeter for Itachi-san, and he said that he was there to collect the body."

Kaisuki glanced over at him, and saw that he was scowling darkly. "I got the feeling he knew more about Itachi-san than he was letting on. No one else in the organization was supposed to know just how sick he was, so I don't know why this random prick would've had no faith in his ability to kick his little brother's ass."

Kaisuki nodded, deciding not to comment on his obvious irritation with "Tobi." She chewed her lip worriedly. Kisame didn't know anything about the masked guy. She doubted Tobi was an imposter, and with every moment that she thought about it, she increasingly wondered if _he_ had made off with Sasuke. He was the only unaccounted person who had been in that area. Teara had been nowhere around, so he didn't even make sense as a suspect.

_Where are you, Sasuke?_

Her stomach twisted as her imagination chose that moment to provide her with all the gruesome images it could come up with. She needed to find him. Teara could wait. She didn't intend to try to take him to Konohagakure, she wasn't going to ask Khrai or Saeka to kill him, she probably wouldn't even approach him. She just wanted to make sure he was safe and healthy and okay.

She had already lost Itachi. She wasn't going to lose Sasuke as well.

 


	8. welcome back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY

After two months of absolutely nothing, it was becoming clear just how much Kaisuki really cared for both Itachi _and_ Sasuke.

She often downplayed the amount of fretting she did over Sasuke, but after seeing the way she was subtly panicking and losing sleep from nightmares and repeatedly skipping meals, Kisame could _really_ see how much she cared. He didn't know what the reasons were for the ways Kaisuki thought about things. He had thought for the longest time that she had decided that Sasuke wasn't worth her trouble, that he was truly just a lost cause that she didn't want to burden herself with.

Evidently, he'd been _completely_ wrong. The poor girl was losing her mind trying to find the missing Uchiha, and with every day that they came up with no new leads, she seemed to lose more sleep per night. She was trying to act like nothing was wrong, but the fact that she was going to pieces showed in a variety of ways.

Kisame glanced over at Kaisuki from the other side of the table they were seated at. She had a cup of tea that she hadn't touched, and that was it. He'd already finished his breakfast, and was simply waiting for both their check and for Kaisuki to figure out their next plan of action. She was pouring over a map of the Shinobi Nations, marking off where they had been through an area and how many times they'd been there and how long ago it had been since the last time they were there.

She was being as thorough as she could possibly be, but Sasuke was _gone_.

"How's it look?" He asked offhandedly, tracing his finger around the edges of his empty cup. Kaisuki hummed, but didn't say anything at first. He was sure she hadn't actually registered his question, but he didn't bother repeating it. Saying it again wouldn't guarantee that she heard him, and he didn't really have the wherewithal to bother her about it anyway. She'd tell him what she had decided as soon as she had decided something.

Besides, Khrai, Saeka, or Izumi would probably let her know that he'd said something.

Abruptly, Kaisuki straightened up, blinking and looking very alarmed. She glanced at him briefly before twisting in her seat to look out the window directly behind her. Kisame watched her silently, waiting impatiently for her to explain what she was seeing or feeling or being informed about or whatever.

Then, as their waiter was approaching their table, Kaisuki turned back around and faked a smile at the young man as he stopped beside them. "Can I get you two anything else today?" He asked politely, a bright smile on his face.

Kaisuki answered before Kisame could even consider it, "No, we're all set, thank you. Can we get our check, please?"

The waiter nodded and reached into his apron pocket, setting the check on the table. "Then, enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

"We will," the Tsubaki replied. The waiter walked away and Kaisuki hastily pulled out her wallet (even though Kisame had told her earlier that he would pay) and, after glancing momentarily at the check, set several bills down on the table and put her full mug of tea on top of the money and their check.

"Something wrong?" Kisame asked as they were standing up. Kaisuki looked up at him distractedly and nodded as she grabbed her bag off the seat.

"Teara just walked past this diner. Right outside on the road," she told him, sounding agitated. "He was completely masking his chakra some kind of way, but then Saeka suddenly felt him clear as day as he was walking by."

They went outside, and Kaisuki glanced down the road in both directions before starting to their left. "There's no way that was a coincidence." She muttered heatedly.

"You think he's attracting our attention on purpose?" Kisame clarified as they walked briskly down the street.

The Yurei grunted an affirmation, "I think he wants us to follow him, yea."

Kisame hummed thoughtfully, but didn't say anything in reply. He scanned the persons walking ahead of them, searching out Teara's white hair. It didn't take long to spot him, and the first thing Kisame noticed was that he wasn't wearing an Akatsuki cloak. He wasn't even trying to pretend that he had actually joined the organization. He had probably already taken over Akatsuki.

Kisame didn't want to think about what Teara would do with Akatsuki since he had gotten all of them under his sway. He was sure it couldn't be good, whatever it was.

Teara led them to the other side of the town and they followed him down the dirt road that Kisame knew ultimately led to Konohagakure. He and Kaisuki slowed their pace, not wanting to get too close, lest they be caught. Although, if Teara _wanted_ them to follow him, it was probable that he wouldn't make an attempt on their lives if he noticed them behind him. In fact, he probably already knew they were behind him.

"I'm not sure how I feel about following him though," Kaisuki quietly said after they'd been walking for about thirty minutes. "He might be leading us into a trap."

"Worst case scenario, we have to kill a few people." Kisame replied calmly. "I've been in worse pickles than you could imagine. We'll be fine."

The Yurei let out a breath of laughter, though it sounded tired and not entirely genuine. She didn't say anything further, and he didn't bother trying to pursue the topic. Kaisuki wasn't in a good place and distracting her from the problems at hand wasn't going to help. The best thing he could do was concentrate on what was going on around them, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any abnormalities. When Kaisuki was stressed, she had a tendency to pay less attention to her surroundings and hyper-focus on tasks instead, so it was just that much more important for him to keep a lookout.

It was fine, because he had long since gotten used to paying more attention than usual for his traveling partner.

"He's picking up the pace," Kaisuki said, "And he went off the path to get into the trees."

Kisame hummed in affirmation, "Guess we should do the same."

"Yea," the Yurei replied quietly as they veered off into the trees, leaping up into the branches and taking off. If they continued in the direction they had been traveling, they were eventually going to find themselves at Konohagakure. Was that where Teara was heading? Why would he go that way? Was he going to attack that village?

"Shit," Kaisuki suddenly cursed, coming to an abrupt halt on the branches and looking around in confusion. "Saeka lost him."

Kisame blinked, confused. "How did she just lose him?"

Kaisuki shook his head, looking just as bewildered. "I don't know, he just disappeared."

"What should we do?" Kisame asked, "Keep going this way? He seemed to be heading towards Konohagakure. Maybe if we circle around that area we'll find him again."

"Maybe," the girl replied slowly, still looking unsure. "This... isn't the first time he's done this. He does it a lot, actually. We follow him for a while and then he just disappears into thin air. I don't get how he's doing it."

Kisame frowned. That was pretty odd, and he remembered Kaisuki mentioning it before. Teleportation jutsu required a massive amount of chakra, and Saeka would've easily picked up on a burst of chakra that large. Not to mention the fact that he would've had to stop to lay out the necessary scrolls. There was just no way he was using one of the very few teleportation jutsu there were.

"Okay," Kaisuki somewhat hesitantly said after a moment. "He's just gone. Let's do what you said. We'll circle the village in a spiral and see if we can't find him, and if we can't, we'll... well, we can figure that out when we get to it."

Kisame nodded in agreement. "Sounds good."

They took off into the trees again, heading away from the path they'd started on so they could start their spiral. They were about a hundred and fifty miles away from Konohagakure, so they had a good amount of ground to cover. It'd probably take them a couple of weeks to do what Kaisuki was proposing. That was just more time she wasn't spending looking for Sasuke.

He couldn't help but wonder how long it would take before she gave up the search for Teara and went back to looking for Sasuke (again). It probably wouldn't take very long. Kaisuki had hyper-focused her efforts on finding the missing Uchiha and if there was one thing he had come to know about Kaisuki, it was that she didn't let up until she had succeeded at whatever it was she was aiming for.

After seeing how much the girl was stressing out about her former teammate, Kisame had come to genuinely hope that they didn't find the kid dead. Even though he didn't care about Sasuke in any way, even though he held a grudge against Sasuke because he had killed Itachi, he hoped for Kaisuki's sake that the boy was alive and well.

He didn't want to spend any more time waking Kaisuki from nightmares than he absolutely had to, and he knew that if they found the kid dead, she would be haunted by it for weeks. She was already still dealing with what she considered a failure to protect Itachi.

_"I wanted them both to stop being dicks and come home, yea, but that was unreasonable as a request, so I settled for keeping them both as safe as I could from as far a distance as possible."_

Finding out the main reason why she had somewhat forced her way into Itachi and his life had been a bit painful to hear, especially because he knew it was his fault that she had failed to achieve her goal. She had tried _so hard_ to keep Itachi alive, to the point of traveling with two S-rank missing-nin, to the point of endangering her life and her reputation, to the point of resuscitating a man whom most everyone would say didn't deserve to be saved.

She had done a lot and she had sacrificed a lot, and all of it had gone to waste because of a promise Kisame hadn't wanted to keep.

_"I know how much you care about her, and I'm sorry for asking this of you, but I need you to promise me you won't let her get to me, no matter what you have to do."_

_"That's a tough one, Itachi-san."_

_"Kisame."_

_"I know, I know. I swear on your grave, I won't let her through."_

That had been the first time he'd seen Itachi smile without being under the influence of a high fever. It had been the first Itachi had ever asked him for a favor that had nothing to do with necessity or a mission. It had been the first time he'd ever heard Itachi talk about his little brother with such great sadness.

Kisame had seen a few partners and teammates come and go in his life, but for the first time, he really missed the one he had lost.

...

If it wasn't for the fact that Teara was their best shot at finding Sasuke, Kaisuki would've given up _weeks_ ago.

Saeka had picked up on the her half-brother's chakra several different times over the past two months, but she hadn't been able to keep tracking him because he kept disappearing into thin air. They still didn't know how he was doing it. There was no logical explanation for how easily he seemed to be able to vanish. It was as though he were traveling through portals or something, but portals didn't exist outside of the lore on the kind of imaginary magic one would find in children's books.

Her level of frustration was reaching the point where she wanted to give up looking for both Teara _and_ Sasuke. Neither of them were anywhere, and she'd been searching for a total of almost four months. It was beginning to look like Sasuke was dead and Teara was goading her. She still didn't know what he was doing; every time she arrived at the exact spot where Saeka had felt his chakra, there was nothing around. Teara's pattern of movement made no sense. It didn't seem like he was doing _anything_ , but Kaisuki knew that couldn't possibly be true.

Teara had infiltrated Akatsuki. He had probably already possessed all of them, and yet it didn't seem like any of them were doing anything interesting. The main threat to the peace that had been achieved throughout most of the Shinobi Nations had gotten eerily quiet, and Kaisuki knew _something_ had to be going on behind the scenes. She didn't want to wait until a critical moment before she realized what was going on, but it would be impossible until she was able to get a concrete trail on Teara and figure out what it was he was doing.

She felt like she was being toyed with, and it was infuriating her. The distress and anxiety that she had been wading through had been completely overridden by her growing frustration. She was doing her best to keep herself under wraps, but it was getting harder and harder with each passing day.

She glanced up at the sky, which had been looking like it wanted to rain on them for a couple of days. The clouds were rolling along quickly, though the wind wasn't blowing very hard. They probably ought to start thinking of looking for shelter relatively soon. They had gotten pretty close to Konohagakure and there were a few caves and abandoned hideouts that they could hole up in, she knew.

Their spiral around her hometown was almost complete and they hadn't found _anything_.

Kaisuki sighed softly. She knew better than anyone that she needed to keep a handle on herself, mainly for Saeka's sake. The youngest spirit had been able to stay strong and continue functioning, despite all that had been going on. Oddly enough, the least emotionally stable of the four of them was the one who had managed to maintain a clear perspective and stay focused.

Izumi had come back from a bout of grieving shortly after Kaisuki had found Kisame, though she was still very distressed and after that day she continued to periodically disappear to cry for hours. The episodes she had started having reminded Kaisuki a lot of how Saeka would sometimes get when she was upset or stressed out. It looked like regressing of some sort, but the results of those regressions were different from Saeka's. Instead of becoming moody and unpredictable, Izumi was having nervous breakdowns and talking to herself a lot. It was worrisome to Kaisuki because she didn't know what she could do to help and she knew the spirit had to be in worlds of emotional pain.

Normally, Khrai would've been around to give her advice on what to do, but Kaisuki hadn't seen the elf in almost four months. She was certain that she had heard Khrai a few times, her normally melodic voice sounding more like nails on a chalkboard as she shrieked her rage into the vast, dark landscapes of Kaisuki's inner world, but she hadn't actually seen her. She knew that Khrai could take care of herself, but it bothered her that the blonde had so thoroughly secluded herself and refused to accept anything from anyone.

Kaisuki supposed that if Khrai needed her, she'd let her know. It didn't really make her feel any better, though. She had tried calling out for the elf, but she'd only been met with silence and a distressing hollow feeling in her chest, as if there was a piece of her missing, as if Khrai had disappeared. The elf could completely mask her presence, to the point where Kaisuki couldn't even feel her spirit within her, and that frightened the Yurei.

The level to which Khrai was making sure they stayed away was beyond what she could possibly have imagined. Saeka had been telling her over and over and over that their oldest was alright, that she just had a really terrible temper - worse than Saeka herself - and she didn't want to "do anything rash." Kaisuki wasn't entirely sure what that meant, and the youngest spirit hadn't been able to elaborate. All she could guess was that Khrai was concerned that her temper would send her into a frenzy at a moment's notice, and ultimately lead to her killing people she didn't want to kill.

It almost didn't make sense. In a battle of wills, Saeka was strong enough to keep Khrai from taking over. Did she not trust the youngest to have the judgment to know when she ought to step in? Even if she didn't actually do it, Kaisuki knew that Khrai would sing Saeka's praises for hours if anyone asked her to, and she wouldn't be sugarcoating anything. Khrai adored Saeka, yes, but she didn't praise her for things she didn't deserve to be praised for.

 _Unless, of course,_ she thought with a frown. _Khrai is stronger than she's been letting on._

She didn't know how strong Khrai was anymore. Every time she thought she had an idea, the woman would do _something_ that suggested she was stronger than that. First she'd broken Neji's arm with a single, well-placed punch. Then she'd basically destroyed Neji's arm moments after that, with a single punch. She had, on multiple occasions, taken people's heads clean off their shoulders with a single punch. She had somewhat recently downed an oak tree that was at least six times as wide as her, with a single punch.

Teara had only been able to beat Khrai because he was faster than her. If she had been able to keep up with him, he would've been dead a long time ago. But the fact of the matter was that there was probably just about _no one_ who could best Teara. Kaisuki had thought she'd seen the elf angry after that but apparently, at least with Khrai, there was _always_ "angrier."

" _Uh-oh_ ," Saeka suddenly said, pulling Kaisuki out of her thoughts. Her eyebrows came together as she waited with bated breath for the verdict. Saeka was silent for a moment, but then she continued, " _Sasuke's..._ "

Kaisuki stopped in her tracks. Kisame continued a couple of steps forward before he stopped and turned to glance at her, confused. She pulled back from the reigns and turned around to face Saeka. In the background, she was faintly aware of Kisame talking to her, but she didn't hear what he was saying at all.

" _Sasuke's what?_ " She asked urgently. " _You can sense him?_ "

Saeka was very still for a moment, her eyes staring off into a point in the middle distance. Then, her eyes widened briefly before her expression darkened. " _He's attacking Konohagakure, I think. He's fighting with your team. Feels like he's just outside the village._ "

Kaisuki was sure her face turned the color of sour milk, but an instant later fury unlike any she'd felt in a while took over. She had been _obsessively_ searching for Sasuke for _months_. She had been losing sleep and skipping meals and having nightmares and stressing out Kisame, and now the little creep was attacking Konohagakure?

She clenched her fists so tightly, her nails started to dig harshly into her palms. Saeka was watching her carefully, her expression eerily calm.

" _Do you want to kill him, or no?_ " The youngest spirit asked, and Kaisuki froze. The question was more difficult to answer than she felt it ought to have been.

On the one hand, it was looking increasingly like Sasuke was beyond salvaging and should just be killed before he was given the opportunity to hurt anymore people than he probably already had. He was probably only going to get increasingly destructive until he was dead. On the other hand, she had just lost Itachi and she had promised herself many years ago that she would do everything she could to keep them both alive. Killing him was really the last thing she _wanted_ to do, but what she wanted wasn't always what she got.

Saeka frowned, " _You don't need to decide right this second, Kaisuki,_ " she said. " _We're at least fifteen minutes out if you run, and you can change your mind whenever you want. For now, let's assume you don't want to kill him. Just let me know if you need me to take over._ "

Kaisuki nodded slowly, " _Alright,_ " she mumbled. " _I'll let you know._ "

Oddly enough, Saeka chose that moment to smile encouragingly at her. She managed a weak smile in reply before she turned back to the reigns and resumed control over her body. She blinked in the bright sunlight and focused her attention on Kisame as she started walking again, this time much more briskly.

"What's up?" Kisame asked, following her lead as she leaped into the trees and took off.

"Sasuke's attacking the village," she explained. "I have to go help beat him up."

Kisame didn't reply right away, and Kaisuki didn't want to look at him. "Do you think you can do that without killing him?" He questioned. "I mean, he killed Itachi-san. He also killed one of the Sannin."

"I have Saeka on my side," she replied right away. She could hear the hesitation in her own voice and it irritated her. "I'll fight him myself for now but if I need her to step in and kill or incapacitate him for me, she will. Not even Itachi was ever able to take out Saeka, and that was back when he wasn't sick."

"That makes enough sense," he told her. "But if you get hurt bad enough that you can't fight without worsening the damage, use that distress signal and I'll come save the day. There's no way that pint-sized brat can take me out, that's for damn sure."

Kaisuki glanced over at him, startled. If Kisame were to show up and save them in Konohagakure, it was possible that he'd end up getting himself arrested. She supposed it was possible that he had a lot of confidence in his ability to either get away or break out of prison, but it didn't really make her feel better about using the option.

"If it's down to life or death," she said after a beat. "I'll call you. So try to stay within five minutes of Konohagakure."

Kisame snorted, "Obviously. We're heading for the main gate, right?"

She furrowed her brow briefly, "Yea, why?"

"Then I'll wait between there and the east gate," he paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Somewhere pretty close to the wall, probably."

"Alright," she hesitantly agreed. She really didn't like the idea of him waiting that close to the village, but she supposed it was likely that most of Konohagakure's forces were concentrated on dealing with Sasuke. "We're almost there, so head off that-a-way," she gestured in the approximate direction of the east gate. "I'll see you later, unless I get killed."

"You'd better not," Kisame retorted. "See you later, for sure."

With that, he shifted course and headed away from her. She was probably somewhere between five and ten minutes away from her destination. Would she get there in time? Saeka had mentioned feeling anyone's chakra sources suddenly disappear, so no one was dead _yet_. That didn't mean someone wouldn't be dead in three minutes.

She pumped chakra to her legs and pushed off each branch harder, moving as fast as she could. Somewhere in the back of her head, there was an incessant buzz of energy alongside a deep well of anger that simmered agitatedly.

_Is that... Khrai?_

She didn't get a chance to try and figure it out, as she was suddenly hit with the scent of burning wood and an immense heat. Moments later, she was dodging around burning forestry, her hammering away in her chest. If Sasuke was firing off katon jutsu - even if he only used one - while Naruto was coming at him with his Rasengan, the results could be deadly for everyone near them. The mixture of fire-type jutsu and wind-type jutsu was one of the most dangerous combinations because of how impossible it is to control the outcomes.

She would've hoped that either Naruto or Sasuke would think of that before trying to mix those two elements, but when they were together her two male teammates always lost their heads and wound up doing stupid things for various reasons.

Kaisuki saw an end to the woods, flashes of lightning, and a familiar spark of orange that didn't appear to be moving. She picked up the pace as much as she possibly could, drawing a kunai as she went, and launched herself off the last branch before the wide path that led into the village. In just the instant between leaving the trees and sticking her landing, she took in as much of the scene as she could.

Most everyone was down. Sakura was tending to the wounded with a couple of other irou-nin. Kakashi-sensei appeared to be wholly unconscious and if the sparks still flying were any indication, Sasuke had to have sent a pretty powerful shock through his body. Naruto, who had been grappling with Sasuke, either saw or felt Kaisuki's approach because he let go of Sasuke and threw himself backwards in time for the Yurei to rear back and drive her fist into the Uchiha's jaw.

Sasuke stumbled a few steps before he lashed out blindly with his chokuto to prevent any further attacks. Kaisuki stood between him and Naruto, who had come to a stop by Sakura and Kakashi-sensei.

"K-Kaisuki? _!_ " She heard her blond friend exclaim, "What are you doing here?"

She didn't turn around to give him an incredulous look, largely because she knew Sasuke would take advantage of any moment she didn't have her eyes on him. Instead, she said loudly in response, "I live here too, you know."

" _He's hurt_ ," Kaisuki suddenly heard Izumi's quiet voice speak up in her head, and she paused. " _He's lost a fair amount of weight too, and he clearly hasn't been sleeping well, if at all._ "

She took a brief few seconds to digest that information. Just looking at him, she could easily agree that Sasuke did not look well. He was ashen and the dark circles under his eyes could've been compared to her own. She didn't know what had happened exactly, but the blank, almost dead look in his eyes told her one thing:

He was beyond her reach. He was probably beyond anyone's reach. She didn't know what had happened, but he had evidently snapped.

_"Do you want to kill him, or no?"_

She heard Naruto take a step forward behind her, "Naruto," she began. "Stay back there, okay? If he's about to kill me, I'm going to need you to not let him."

"I-..." Naruto started and stopped immediately, and Kaisuki could practically hear him trying to think of a counter. He knew he was exhausted even more than she did. Sasuke ought to have been equally fatigued, but he didn't appear to be even slightly winded.

Her eyes narrowed and her grip on her kunai tightened and she swallowed hard, stepping into her stance. She still didn't know if she wanted to kill him or not. It ought to have been an easy question to answer. He was beyond help. There was no coming back from the deep end he had gone off. She ought to just kill him. It made sense to kill him.

Kaisuki saw Sasuke adjust his grip on his chokuto before he launched himself forward, eyes cold and calculating. She switched her hold on her kunai and threw it at him while simultaneously pulling out another with her other hand. Once she had replaced the kunai in her hand, she twisted around and used it to block the sword that was swinging towards her neck, from where Sasuke had appeared behind her.

Sparks flew from the clashing metal as she continued to block and parry each swing, ignoring the cuts that were beginning to pop up on her arms, from where she was just a second late with her blocking. The weight of Sasuke's swings was heavier than she felt he should've been capable of given how much weight he had lost. She gritted her teeth as she lashed out with her kunai, slicing a clean cut into the side of the Uchiha's neck, just low enough to barely miss his jugular.

Blood still spilled freely out of the wound, but despite the fact that he leaped back to put some distance between them for a moment, he didn't look particularly bothered by the injury. She hadn't even been aiming that close to his neck - she'd been intending to slice his shoulder wide enough to sever a few tendons. Instead, he had dodged in a way she hadn't been expecting and had almost gotten his own throat slit.

"I find it interesting," he suddenly spoke, and his voice didn't sound right. It sounded so hollow and _dead_ , it almost didn't sound like Uchiha Sasuke. It was as though someone else had stepped into his body and the new persona didn't have an actual personality. "That you haven't switched out yet. Wouldn't you normally sic Saeka on me by now?"

Before she could reply, a surge of unbridled _rage_ seemed to fill all the space in her mind. She felt it as though it were her own, but she knew better than to think that such a reaction was actually from herself. Khrai's presence was suddenly back, stronger than ever and colder than Kaisuki had ever felt it. It was a bitter, blistering cold that made her head hurt and her heart race. A feeling almost like a pair of heavy hands falling upon her shoulders was suddenly within her awareness, and she could feel it pulling back on her, coaxing her to let go of the reigns and give up control of her body.

Almost immediately, a burst of reactionary heat welled up within, and she could feel her temperature steadily beginning to rise. The hands that had fallen upon her shoulders disappeared in an instant, and she could faintly register the sounds of Saeka and Khrai fighting. Now was probably the _worst_ possible time for Khrai to decide to come back, especially considering the fact that she was probably just back so she could kill Sasuke.

Sasuke blinked out of sight and for just an instant Kaisuki's whole body locked up. It was enough time for her to miss her chance to block the attack, so she leaped back as quickly as she could, feeling the blade slash open a gash probably a good centimeter or two deep. Blood spilled out of the wound and she gritted her teeth against the pain.

" _If both of you don't cut it out, I'm going to fucking_ _ **die**_." She snarled over her shoulder at the girls she knew were fighting just out of sight. " _Khrai, if you can't learn some self-restraint, go back to wherever the hell you were hiding until I'm done fighting him._ "

There was an almost eerie silence in reply. She put it out of her mind though and returned her attention to her fight. The wound on her stomach was deep enough to be bleeding quite a bit, but not to deep that she had reason to feel she was in real danger of bleeding to death. She chewed her tongue, cursing inwardly. She needed to be attacking him with the intent to kill or she wasn't going to be able to prevent him from killing her.

She refocused her attention on the Uchiha, meeting the icy gaze held in his Sharingan for only an instant before she felt her body lock up again. Saeka's presence had faded just beyond her immediate awareness and she felt her control slipping. She fought against it even though she knew better than anyone that she stood no real chance against Khrai.

She felt her legs move without her telling them to and she twisted around just in time for her to use her kunai to redirect Sasuke's chokuto a few inches to the side. It was enough to keep him from instantly killing her, but that sharp, electric shock of pain that ripped through her waist quickly reminded her that she hadn't fully dodged the attack.

Sasuke ripped his sword back and Kaisuki collapsed, eyes wide, mouth gasping. She hadn't ever actually been stabbed like that before. Never. She'd been slashed, for sure. But never stabbed. And it was a pain unlike any other. It seared itself into her flesh, running sharp tacks of pain through every nerve in her body. It felt like needles were coursing through her veins. It felt like her chest was constricting too tightly.

It _hurt_.

There was a dark ring of shadows beginning to border her vision, and she wasn't sure if she was bleeding out or blacking out. She could feel Khrai's invasive presence recoiling violently, and she wondered faintly if the spirit could feel that pain as well. After a moment of loud gasping, she managed to summon the strength to look up at the Uchiha, her gaze set in a smoldering glare.

Sasuke just stared down at her from a couple of feet away, his sword dripping with her blood. Slowly, he lifted it up and she wished that she could get her body to move because he was about to decapitate her _._

She could hear Khrai somewhere in the background even as she slowly closed her eyes and braced herself, and she wasn't sure if the elf was crying or not. It sounded like it, but Khrai wasn't really the type to cry. She could hear spluttering apologies alongside what may have been moderate hyperventilating, and she was replying before she knew it.

" _It's okay, Khrai. I'm not mad._ "

For just a moment, it felt like she was floating. There was a distinct pressure on her shoulder and under her knees, but it felt like she was floating and she wasn't sure why. Immediately Naruto came to mind. She _had_ told him to not let Sasuke kill her.

Then, the movement stopped abruptly. Kaisuki slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in the arms of a complete stranger. She looked up at them, seeing that they were wearing a mask even as they were gingerly setting her down not far from Naruto.

The hand that had been under her legs retracted and hovered over the wound on her stomach for just a moment, the peculiar sensation of tissue being knit together tingled beneath her skin. The bleeding stopped and the person (identified as male once she took a better look) let go of her and stood up, drawing a kunai as they went.

She watched the man as he walked away, her eyes wide. She had no idea who that was. He was wearing a Black Ops mask and she didn't recognize the feeling of his chakra at all. She watched him twirl the kunai in his hand as though it were a natural extension of his arm. Sasuke was watching him with that still, dead expression on his face, shifting his grip on his chokuto just a bit.

"Another Black Ops, huh?" The Uchiha stated, his voice dull as he lifted his sword into his stance. "You guys just don't know when to-..."

Before he could finish, the Black Ops member disappeared from sight altogether for just an instant, reappearing a few feet past Sasuke. There was a pause for about a second before deep lacerations tore themselves open on the Uchiha's left arm and leg, blood spilling out of the wounds as Sasuke dropped his sword and collapsed to his knees. His arm hung limply at his side and he wasn't putting any weight on his leg, and Kaisuki didn't need to be told to figure out that the masked man had sliced through several ligaments in his arm and leg. Just like that, a game-changing blow had been delivered.

Just like that, the fight was basically over.

Sasuke's eyes were wide, the empty look on his face replaced by surprise, if not fear. He twisted over so he was sitting down, propping himself up with his good arm even as the Black Ops member was approaching him slowly, dropping the kunai he'd been holding and reaching into his kunai pouch to retrieve another. This one, however, was the color of blood. The wrapping around the hilt was black and she could faintly see letters in a language she was sure she didn't know written up and down the blade.

She couldn't see Sasuke's face anymore, but she saw the saw his shoulders stiffened as though with recognition. The Black Ops member was a foot away from the Uchiha when he lashed out with the kunai, and she was expecting a finishing blow. She was sure everyone was.

But then, Sasuke dodged to the side and jumped back up onto both feet, very clearly putting weight on both of them. He used his injured arm to draw a kunai, and now that she could see his face, Kaisuki could see how wide his eyes were and how pale his face had gotten.

That didn't matter though, considering the fact that the Uchiha was _standing on torn ligaments_.

Kaisuki's eyes were wide with alarm. He couldn't feel the pain in his leg? Or rather, he could still _use_ his leg even after all the damage that had been done to it? That was impossible. That was...

_"Kill me? Ha! What about the real Neji? This is his body, ya' know!"_

Her stomach dropped. She couldn't feel Khrai's presence, Saeka wasn't around anymore, and Izumi wasn't a fighter. If there was ever a time she _needed_ the oldest of her spirits, it was that moment. She didn't know what that blood red kunai was. She didn't know what why it red, what it was for, _nothing_. She didn't know if it would kill Sasuke or if it would do something else.

_Don't kill him._

" _Saeka? Khrai? Are either of you here?_ " She called, hearing the panic in her own inner voice. " _I could really use at least one of you right now._ "

There was no response. She gritted her teeth. She had no idea what to do. If she was right, killing Sasuke wasn't the right answer. If she was right, he needed _help_. But she didn't know what she could possibly do to fix the situation. She didn't know enough about any of it. She had learned a lot from Khrai, but she didn't know how to exorcise or kill demons that had possessed people.

She needed Khrai and the elf was nowhere to be found.

She pulled back from her control over her body and turned around to face the darkness behind her. " _Khrai! Where are you? Now is not the time to be wallowing in self-hatred!_ " She hollered into the vastness of her mind.

Still no response. Khrai must have secluded herself much further away than Kaisuki had realized. If that were the case, she might not be able to hear Kaisuki at all. Or she might not have realized what was going on and Kaisuki yelling for her wasn't enough of an incentive.

" _God fucking damn it, Khrai, Sasuke's possessed and I need you to tell me how to fix him!!_ " Was the last thing she yelled into the darkness. Seconds turned into a minute, then two, and there was still no reply. She had no idea what to do. She was sure Naruto and Sakura were expecting her to do something about it (in fact, she was reasonably certain that she could hear Naruto talking to her), but there wasn't anything she could do without Khrai's guidance. She just didn't know enough.

_Clearly I'm going to have to get a crash course on demons when this mess has been resolved._

She turned back to the reigns and resumed control over her body, blinking to refocus her vision. She managed to focus on what was going on just in time to see Sasuke's sword slice into the mask the Black Ops member was wearing. It wasn't deep enough to have cut his face, but it was enough to break his mask.

The crack that had appeared was straight across the middle of the mask. A chunk of the bottom half of it fell away, revealing part of the man's face. There was a pause, and it was within that pause that Kaisuki realized that Sasuke must have been trying to unmask the man. She was curious as well, but she also knew that Black Ops members wore masks for a very good reason.

After a long pause, the man lifted a hand slowly, reaching up and unclasping the band that held the mask on his face. There was a strange shift in the air, a sensation almost like a static charge that danced across her skin. It was the feeling of an immense amount of chakra in the atmosphere.

He pulled the mask a couple of inches away from his face and she saw him hesitate. Everyone and everything seemed to be waiting with bated breath for the big reveal. After a moment, though, he pulled the mask away from his face and lowered his arm, dropping the ceramic piece to the ground. Kaisuki froze as she took in the agonizingly familiar face, the jarring realization that, once that mask was off, she recognized the chakra signature right away.

 _Impossible_.

It was Uchiha Itachi.

 


	9. the exorcism of Uchiha Sasuke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now we're all caught up. Expect chapter 11 on the 9th of September!!

_"You're very hard to possess, Itachi. Always have been, apparently. That demon tried to possess you first, but it couldn't so it went after Sasuke to compensate. If they have Sasuke, they essentially have you."_

Teara's words were still echoing in Itachi's head. He didn't at all understand what was going on, and the white-haired man had been more cryptic than helpful. At the moment, though, it didn't matter.

" _Wow, he looks like shit_ ," Madara commented unhelpfully. " _Check out those dark circles, holy hell._ "

Itachi didn't disagree with the assessment in any way. Sasuke _did_ look terrible. The shadows under his eyes were darker than Itachi had ever seen them, his face was beyond ashen, and he had lost a noticeable amount of weight. Coupling that with the number of painful-looking injuries he was sporting, he looked like a dead man walking. The thing that was controlling Sasuke had been seriously neglecting him, and it showed.

Knowing that it was his fault that his little brother was so far gone was the worst part. He hadn't known, of course, but that wasn't a good enough excuse. If he'd been around for Sasuke, if he'd found some way to stay with him, he would've eventually noticed that something was wrong. Kaisuki had mentioned on more than one occasion that Sasuke was extremely emotionally unstable, sometimes to the point of becoming dangerous to himself and others.

_"Sasuke's fucked in the head in a lot of different ways. I don't know why Naruto and Sakura couldn't see that before he left, let alone now."_

Though only in passing, he had heard from Kaisuki about several different incidents and recurring behaviors. He had silently pondered on more than one occasion why those things had happened, entirely because he'd never known Sasuke to be _unstable_. Somewhat depressed? Definitely. Angry? Absolutely.

But nothing remotely similar to what was standing before him.

"How...?" His younger brother's disbelieving voice was somewhat hoarse and it sounded hollowed out. "I watched you die."

" _You didn't get to see me make off with him, though,_ " Madara replied even though Itachi was the only one who could hear him. " _Because you passed out like a loser._ "

Even though he really wanted to turn and politely ask the ghost to _shut up_ , Itachi's didn't let his indifferent expression shift in any way. He switched his grip on the red kunai, observing the expressions that crossed Sasuke's face. "Did you?" He challenged stonily.

The look that appeared on his brother's face at that moment was nothing short of disturbed and confused. He could see the beginnings of doubt and nervousness. It didn't take much to shake a person's resolve, and apparently the same went for demonic entities.

Sasuke's grip on his kunai became so tight that his knuckles went white, but he smirked anyway. The expression was positively evil, but it lacked the same level of cockiness that had been there when Itachi had first arrived on the scene with his mask still on.

"Whatever," Sasuke's voice sounded so completely _wrong_. "Whether you're the real deal or not, I'm taking you out."

" _I'd like to see that,_ " Madara muttered under his breath agitatedly.

Itachi didn't respond to the demon's taunt. The thing had no idea what it was getting itself into. Between his newfound knowledge of his brother's possession and the fact that he was healthier than he'd been since he was fifteen, Itachi was confident that he could kill it without doing too much more damage to Sasuke's body.

_"I have orders to kill Sasuke and his little lake monster next time I see him, and that'll be today if you're not willing to deal with him."_

Itachi still couldn't figure out how Teara had known that Sasuke could be used as leverage against him.

"... should we do?" He could faintly hear Uzumaki Naruto's voice, and he was sure he heard Kaisuki reply breathlessly, but he didn't pay attention to it. She would probably keep anyone from interfering, even if it meant tackling someone and risking reopening her wound.

"But only if we absolutely..."

" _Naruto thinks your gonna kill Sasuke,_ " Madara stated. " _Kaisuki's telling him not to worry about that, so I think you'll be alright. Just make it snappy._ "

Itachi didn't respond, as he saw the slightest movement in the possessed Sasuke's stance before the younger Uchiha darted to the left. The demon controlling him probably thought it was still on par with Itachi's skill level, as it had been when they'd fought before. It probably assumed that Itachi had been going all out when they'd had their battle. It probably thought it could move Sasuke faster, or that Itachi was blind as he'd been the last time they'd seen each other.

He didn't know what had happened, but since he'd woken up a couple of weeks ago, his vision had come back. Not just to the point it'd been at before he'd fought Sasuke, but back to being being flawless as it'd been before he'd first acquired the Mangekyou Sharingan. He hadn't been able to see as well as he could then in almost a decade.

That was another important factor that the thing controlling his little brother didn't know.

Itachi turned at the last second and used his free hand to block his brother's downward swing with his forearm against Sasuke's wrist. He noted the surprise that crossed the younger Uchiha's features absently as he lashed out with the red kunai, not aiming for a killing blow but wanting to cause damage to see if something other than just slicing flesh would happen. He wanted to know as much about the kunai as he could before he actually stabbed his brother with it. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally kill Sasuke because he'd trusted the word of Saeka's purportedly sadistic, psychopathic half-brother.

_"If you stab him in a vital point with this kunai, it'll kill the demon without killing Sasuke."_

The demon managed move Sasuke out of the way before Itachi could land a blow, recovering quickly from the awkward maneuver. Itachi felt his little brother's chakra (which felt akin to mud, to be perfectly honest) begin to stir before it surged to the hand Itachi had been blocking. He twisted to the side swiftly, pulling his blocking arm out of the way just as Sasuke's hand lit up with lightning that sparked and crackled loudly.

Itachi's high-speed dodge had landed him directly behind Sasuke, though before he could attack the younger Uchiha had jumped forward, turning in midair and hurling the kunai at Itachi. Resisting the urge to say something demeaning about the lame maneuvers ( _you don't perform well under pressure, do you?_ ), he easily side-stepped the single kunai. He twirled the kunai in his hand again and darted in low, moving much, much faster than Sasuke had been earlier. Planting his left foot and launching himself diagonally to the right, he flew past his little brother as he slashed at an upward angle with the kunai.

It seemed that the second time was the charm, as Itachi's slash made solid contact. He felt the kunai sink into Sasuke's flesh, knowing that he should have left a rather deep gash from around his right hip to somewhere across his chest. He stopped on a dime and turned around, waiting for the demon to turn Sasuke to face him so that he could see what damage he had caused.

There was a very brief pause before the thing seemed to get a hold of itself and face Itachi again, steps unsteady and face white. Surprisingly, there was no damage at all. Despite the level of agony written all over his little brother's face, there wasn't even a scratch, not even a bruise, no kind of mark at all. In that case, it really _was_ only going to hurt the demon without damaging Sasuke.

That was all he needed to know.

"How is..." Uzumaki Naruto's voice floated over from somewhere to Itachi's right, disbelief coloring his tone. "That's..."

" _Perfect_ ," he heard Madara say from somewhere nearby, almost as though he'd been finishing Kaisuki's blond teammate's sentence. It was strange. Madara wouldn't normally speak at all while Itachi was in battle, unless someone was coming for him and he hadn't seen them. It had only taken one instance of Madara distracting Itachi and almost getting him killed for the ghost to learn.

"Where..." Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth. "Did you get that kunai?"

Itachi twirled the red kunai in his hand again. "I have my ways," he blandly replied. Sasuke's black eyes widened for just an instant before an expression of fury crossed his features as he ground his teeth together.

Itachi knew he would have to be quick about killing it. If he injured it too much before killing it, the Black Ops members he knew were hiding around the area would take the opportunity to kill Sasuke before going after Itachi. Itachi was easier to take out because he couldn't fight beyond a certain point of being injured. If there were as many of them in hiding as he thought there were, he wouldn't be able to protect Sasuke and defend himself at the same time. Especially since the demon controlling Sasuke would likely take any opportunity to take out Itachi. He didn't really need two dozen people trying to kill him at the same time.

He would have to rely on Tsukuyomi to give him the opening he needed. Sasuke's Sharingan had been able to break through Itachi's Tsukuyomi the last time they'd fought. However, it had taken several minutes and it had drained a good amount of Sasuke's vast chakra reservoirs. Itachi would only need a few seconds to kill the demon once it wasn't moving Sasuke around. Once he had done that, he just needed to make sure Kaisuki got the scroll Teara had given him and that was just a matter of tossing it to her once he had dealt with Sasuke.

_"This will explain everything you need to know."_

It had been very helpful in explaining everything regarding how Sasuke had gotten possessed, what had happened to him as a result of that, and what he had done that was specifically because of the possession. Unfortunately, it had also been completely useless in regard to literally everything else. Teara had evidently decided ahead of time what Itachi did and didn't need to know, and as a result the Uchiha had more questions than he had the time to ask.

Itachi was glad his vision was back to one hundred percent, because otherwise he never would've seen the way Sasuke's black eyes were glancing around in every direction he could see without turning his head. The thing controlling the youngest Uchiha was looking for a way out. Itachi didn't know why it didn't want to just jump out of Sasuke and make a run for it, but he supposed the reasoning didn't matter that much.

Then, it struck him. Sasuke's eyes were black. His Sharingan wasn't activated. Why wasn't he using his Sharingan? Teara had said that there was no technique that Sasuke could perform that the demon controlling him couldn't do. So why would it have gone into battle against him without using Sasuke's Sharingan? He knew his little brother's kekkai genkai had been activated shortly before he'd actually stepped onto the battlefield. He'd seen it from afar.

So why was it deactivated?

He twirled the kunai in his hand absentmindedly, attracting the demon's attention. If the thing _couldn't_ use the Sharingan anymore, for whatever reason, that would prove to be a convenient handicap. He could have it over in a few seconds if he could move himself fast enough. Sasuke's eyes couldn't just see through genjutsu without the use of the Sharingan, nor could he predict Itachi's movements.

He just had to pretend he was trying to out-maneuver Madara (which was actually impossible), and go in for a killing blow. He just had to remember that the kunai in his hand wouldn't do any damage to Sasuke, so he didn't need to pull any punches. He could have it done in an instant, and Sasuke wouldn't have to suffer any more physical damage.

Underneath the cloak he still wore, Itachi moved his hands through the handseals necessary to summon a kage bunshin, but didn't activate his chakra. Then, in one fluid movement, he launched himself forward, darting in low as he summoned the kage bunshin and switched out with it, using a brief instant of a genjutsu to make himself disappear altogether, just long enough to get several yards past Sasuke.

Sasuke was already being moved backwards, but not fast enough. However, the demon apparently realized that, as it reacted secondarily and used a quickly retrieved kunai to parry the kage bunshin's attack at the last possible second. The swing landed a solid hit on Itachi's clone, who disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

Itachi saw his brother's entire body stiffen as he launched himself directly at the younger Uchiha from behind. Everything seemed to slow down for an instant as Sasuke turned around just in time to give Itachi a perfect shot at the center of his chest. The red kunai sank into Sasuke's chest as though it were actually piercing it with an almost sickening ease.

The youngest Uchiha's entire body seemed to light up from under his skin with a faint white light that slowly shifted into jet black, flickering through his chest. Itachi caught him under the arms as his knees buckled. He was about to reach up to check his little brother's pulse when he felt an extreme heat building up in the younger boy's body.

Itachi immediately panicked, sinking onto his knees and laying Sasuke down on his back. He pressed his fingers to his brother's throat, feeling that his pulse was racing far faster than it ought to have been.

" _What?_ " Madara suddenly said, sounding worried. " _What's wrong? Why are you making that face?_ "

Itachi had no idea what face he was talking about, but he wasn't worried about it. His gaze drifted to the kunai still planted in his chest, and he noted with alarm that the the red color was seeping out of the metal of the blade. The flickering light that seemed to be coming from the interior of Sasuke's chest was shifting from the black color it had turned to a bright red.

He reached out unthinkingly and wrapped his fingers around the extremely hot metal of the kunai and pulled it back out. It immediately cooled as it slid out just as easily as it had gone in, leaving not a mark of any kind. The flickering in Sasuke's chest disappeared as the kunai was removed, and for just a second Itachi thought everything was fine.

Then, abruptly, a faint, black halo of energy began building, just a few centimeters off of Sasuke's skin. It built up to a certain point and then stopped, leaving Itachi waiting with baited breath. His little brother was still breathing, his heart was still beating, but his expression was still and his face was so white he looked dead.

He spoke before he realized he was speaking, his voice gentle, "Sasuke?" He called quietly. The air seemed so still, and yet it was charged with an uncomfortably dark energy.

A few seconds passed in eerie silence, before he saw Sasuke's lips move just the slightest bit. His eyes widened somewhat in surprise before he could stop himself, and a second later the faint halo of black energy turned into a powerful, ground-shaking shockwave that expanded outward too fast for anyone to have been able to get clear of it.

Itachi felt the effect of it instantly.

" _Itachi?!_ " Madara called somewhere far, far away.

His chest constricted so suddenly, he let out a wheeze. He pressed a hand to his chest, hunching forward and bracing himself on one arm as he coughed and spluttered and wheezed. His lungs were full of needles and fire was dancing across his nerves, agony relentlessly scouring him out.

Then, just as he was beginning to think that he was about to _actually_ die, the smog seemingly evaporated out of the air with a weak, spiraling breeze. Itachi remained very still for a long moment, still pressing a hand to his chest as he gasped for air. He had to admit, he would've preferred it if someone had warned him that the "spellwork" (that was Teara's word, not his) would basically explode dark energy everywhere and potentially poison him to death.

But, as the seconds ticked by it seemed that he wasn't going to die, so he straightened up from his hunched over position and slowly stood up. His throat didn't want to let him breathe and there was a stinging sensation that seemed to be stemming from every part of him, but he wasn't dying. If he wasn't dying, he was fine.

" _Holy shit, are you okay?_ " Madara breathed. Itachi ignored him.

The older Uchiha brother reached into his kunai pouch as he looked over at Kaisuki. She was staring at him with wide, concerned eyes, but he didn't respond to the expression. He held up the scroll that Teara had given him before after pulling it out of his kunai pouch.

"Don't let them lock him up," he requested monotonously. Kaisuki blinked, before a dawning realization spread across her face. "His actions weren't his own."

Alongside that revelation in the Yurei's eyes, though, Itachi could see a burning hope. It struck a chord in his chest and filled his stomach with nausea.

_Don't look at me like that. I don't deserve it._

He resisted the urge to sigh and tossed the scroll to Kaisuki. It rolled a few feet after it landed until it was close enough for her to reach out and grab it. He watched her pick it up slowly, looking at him in confusion.

"What is this?" She asked slowly, looking between Itachi and the scroll a few times before settling her gaze on the older Uchiha brother.

Before he could answer here, the Black Ops ANBU members that had been hiding just out of sight (while Itachi took Sasuke out for them) appeared around him in an evenly spaced circle. Itachi disregarded their presence as he reached back to his kunai pouch again and detached it from his belt, dropping it on the ground.

"An explanation," he replied to Kaisuki after a moment. She blinked, looking even more confused. Itachi stooped forward and undid the belt that held his kunai holster to his thigh and dropped that to the ground as well.

He hadn't been locked up in a while.

"If you're going to kill me or arrest me," Itachi stated after he'd turned his attention to the Black Ops shinobi standing before him. "You should do it now, before I change my mind."

" _Wait, what?_ " The ghost beside him said suddenly, sounding alarmed. Itachi continued to ignore him. " _I thought you were going to ditch once you took care of Sasuke!_ "

There was a strange silence that fell over everyone. The shinobi before him, wearing the wolf mask, shifted his weight slightly. "You're... what, turning yourself in? After all these years?"

Itachi didn't respond at all. He just stared down the Wolf and waited. It was hard to prevent himself from turning and lashing out as he felt someone coming up behind him. He turned his attention back to Kaisuki one more time.

" _Oh, you-... no! This is not allowed!_ " Madara was suddenly snarling at him, but Itachi thoroughly blocked the ghost out. There were few people in the world who could ignore someone as thoroughly as Itachi could.

_Just pretend he isn't there._

" _Ita-..._ "

Itachi could see the distress and shock in Kaisuki's eyes, could see that she wanted to get up and grab him and force him to run away. After a brief few seconds, though, the Yurei smiled sadly and nodded just slightly. Itachi was thankful that Kaisuki had come back into his life the way she had. Without her, Sasuke would've died alone and unaware and miserable and frightened. Without her, he'd be locked up and left to rot in a cell.

Itachi knew he was going to miss her just as much as he missed Sasuke. He sincerely hoped she never visited.

"Very well," the Wolf mask of the Black Ops finally stated. There was a shift in the air behind him and something struck the back of his neck extremely hard. The last thing he would later remember was the faint sound of someone calling his name from very, very, _very_ far away, their voice panicked and desperate.

" _H-hey! Itachi! Why-... why aren't you... No, wait... pass out... Itachi, I'm-..._ "

His vision went dark an instant later.

...

_Shigaki,_

_Itachi is apparently alive. Sasuke was possessed and Itachi saved him with a red kunai. I don't know what it was, but it's not red anymore. He gave me a scroll that explained everything regarding the possession, and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. Sasuke's been possessed since he was four, according to this. I don't know how much of him is left._

_He's been comatose since Itachi freed him. Khrai's worried he might not wake up._

_Also, Itachi got himself locked up. They won't let me see him. I don't know what I should do about it._

.

_Tsukai,_

_Itachi has never been the type to do anything without a good reason. I'm sure this is the same as every other time. The best thing you can do is nothing. He can take care of himself, despite how I'm sure he looks right about now._

_If you'd rather stay home and look after Sasuke, you should do that. I can do some running around in the meantime. I'll keep you posted on anything I find._

.

_Shigaki,_

_Sasuke woke up today. He tried to kill Naruto, and then me and Sakura. He's completely beyond reason. I don't want to use the word 'insane,' but I don't know what other word I could use._

_Khrai says it's the result of him not being allowed to think for himself for so long. Tsunade-sama is looking for someone who can put him back together. She has her connections in the medical world, but she hasn't found anything yet._

_Half the village wants Sasuke executed. Naruto and Sakura hate me and I haven't laid eyes on Kakashi-sensei in days._

_I don't know what to do or who to talk to. Help._

_._

_Tsukai,_

_Meet me where we last saw each other tomorrow at sunrise._

...

The desperation she had felt during the months she had spent searching endlessly for Sasuke was nothing compared to the sheer weight of the guilt that was eating away at her from the inside.

_"I was wondering if you'd come with me to go get him."_

If she had just gone along with Naruto and the rest of her team and helped them bring Sasuke home, he wouldn't have been so far gone. She would've seen so much sooner that something was _really_ wrong. And if she hadn't, Khrai would have. Instead, she had assumed that the decision to go train under Orochimaru had been Sasuke's and Sasuke's alone, even though it hadn't really made any sense.

She should've just helped her team bring him home.

The steady stream of sedatives and antipsychotics the hospital had been giving Sasuke had been keeping him in a half-conscious, mostly unresponsive state. Kaisuki didn't know if it was good or bad that he had become so catatonic. On the one hand, it meant he wasn't trying to kill anyone, so long as none of his teammates entered the room. On the other hand, neither she nor anyone else had any idea what was going on in his head, and Kaisuki knew that whatever _was_ going on in his head could be causing ever more damage to his psyche.

Izumi and Khrai (who had _finally_ decided to come back) had been taking care of Sasuke. The younger Uchiha brother probably barely remembered what Khrai looked like, so she was the one administering his care, as she was the only unfamiliar face that could tend to him and _easily_ knock him unconscious if he suddenly became violent. No one amongst the jounin or ANBU had been willing to do anything more than kill or guard Sasuke (though the guarding was rather begrudging), and Khrai had volunteered immediately. Tsunade-sama had been fine with it, as she knew that Izumi could handle the strictly medicinal side and Khrai knew more about demonic possession than anyone else in the Shinobi Nations.

Saeka, on the other had, had disappeared entirely.

_"Whatever he gets at this point, he_ _**deserves** _ _it."_

Kaisuki didn't blame her. Even though Saeka knew that Kaisuki had agreed that they shouldn't go after Sasuke when he'd first left Konohagakure, she was still taking full responsibility for the "no" that Team 7 had gotten from her. Khrai and Izumi and Kaisuki had all attempted to find her, to call out to her and tell her that no one was holding her at fault, but she had so thoroughly hidden herself and they were so thoroughly exhausted that they'd given up much more quickly than they should have.

It would've been easier if Naruto and Sakura hadn't been so angry with the Yurei and her three spirits. They _were_ blaming Saeka for Kaisuki's "no," _and_ they were blaming Khrai for not noticing Sasuke's predicament, as well as Kaisuki for continuing to refuse to help them, and Izumi for letting the other three refuse to offer their services (as if she could've done anything about it). Kakashi-sensei wasn't holding anything against her, but he hadn't been upset with her in the first place. He'd been the only one to completely understand her feelings, but because Kakashi-sensei wasn't angry with Kaisuki, Naruto and Sakura were feeling like they were the only ones who had truly cared about Sasuke the whole time.

They genuinely thought that Kaisuki and Kakashi-sensei hadn't cared all along.

The level of resentment that had built between the members of Team 7 had grown to a boiling point, and Kaisuki was too tired to do anything about it. Kakashi-sensei had told Kaisuki that he'd gone to Naruto and Sakura to talk to them about the future of Team 7 and their relationship with Kaisuki, but they were so stubbornly locked in a state of defensiveness and vindictiveness, they hadn't been willing to listen to him.

Tsunade-sama had tried to talk to them as well. Sakura had been reduced to tears by the Godaime Hokage and it had resulted in Naruto yelling obscenities and getting himself thrown in jail for a night.

The team was falling apart and Kaisuki didn't know what to do, so she had turned to her partner on the road.

She felt like an idiot for asking Kisame to help her with Sasuke. Sasuke had "killed" Itachi, and Itachi had been Kisame's partner for seven years. Sasuke had taken that away from him. Kisame had no reason to want anything positive for Sasuke. He had no reason to want to help.

_Meet me where we last saw each other tomorrow at sunrise._

She had been sitting against a tree since a good two hours before the sky had begun to lighten. She hadn't been able to sleep because of the anxiety that had been gnawing away at her stomach, so she'd left ridiculously early. She didn't know what to expect from Kisame when he arrived. She didn't want to assume that he would have an answer for her, because if he didn't she would be left completely hopeless, but she was having difficulty _truly_ stopping herself. She could logic away the optimistic thoughts, but the emotions themselves were still there.

Izumi and Khrai were being extremely quiet. Kaisuki didn't know if they were in the kotatsu room or if they were looking for Saeka. She was caught between missing their company and being glad that they weren't around. Neither of them had been putting any effort into cheering Kaisuki up, which she greatly appreciated. They had instead been offering her only information on Sasuke's condition and as much emotional support as they could give.

She felt bad - they were keeping her going and she wasn't doing anything for them in return. Kaisuki was supposed to be the Yurei who helped them to mend their wounds, and yet they were the ones tending to her's.

Kaisuki sighed bitterly as she leaned back and stared up at the patches of sky through the leaves and branches above her. Maybe it would be better to have Sasuke put down after all. He'd be in less pain. He wouldn't be killing or hurting anyone. Even if Sakura and Naruto never forgave her, the rest of the village would likely throw a party. Sasuke had been and continued to be a thorn in everyone's side and a threat to the safety of the entire village.

If they couldn't figure out how to fix him soon, he'd likely be put to death anyway.

She could faintly hear the sound of rustling bushes and snapping twigs growing increasingly louder, and she sighed again and stood up. As she had been expecting, a few moments later Kisame's familiar, bulky form came around a cluster of trees. He spotted her quickly and she waved halfheartedly at him.

When he was a couple feet away, he finally spoke, "Let's walk while we talk." Kaisuki blinked, but nodded and fell into step beside him. She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything.

They walked in silence for only a few short minutes before Kisame said, "So, tell me what's going on with Sasuke." He requested, glancing down at her. Kaisuki almost stopped in her tracks, startled by the question. He hadn't beat around the bush at all, that was for sure.

She didn't reply right away as she considered her words carefully. "He's... Khrai's been taking care of him, because she's the only one he doesn't remember clearly who can take him down without hurting him," Kaisuki explained quietly. "He's completely mute and usually catatonic until me, Naruto, Sakura, or Kakashi-sensei come into the room. Then he goes completely berserk and starts trying to kill whichever one of us is there."

Kisame hummed in response to that, but didn't say anything. Kaisuki didn't particularly want to look at him, so she took in a shaky breath and continued, "Khrai said that it's basically the result of ten years of consistent brainwashing. Tsunade-sama doesn't ... she doesn't really know anyone in that field of work. I mean, she doesn't..."

"She doesn't know anyone who specializes in reversing brainwashing?" Kisame clarified.

Kaisuki swallowed, "Yea." She mumbled.

Kisame sighed heavily and because it sounded so relieved she looked up at him in confusion. "That's alright, because I do," he stated matter-of-factly.

The Yurei stopped in her tracks. Kisame continued a few steps forward before he realized that she'd stopped and turned around. He gave her a strange look and she blurted out before she could stop herself, "You know someone who can help?"

Kisame stared at her for a long moment before he cracked a smile and turned to face her fully, taking a couple of steps towards her. "I do," he replied. "Kuseno Ogata. He works at a psych ward in Kawa no Kuni."

Kaisuki blinked, "I... I think I've heard of him, but he doesn't work with victims of brainwashing, does he?"

"He does," Kisame said. "It's a _very_ little-known fact because he doesn't want anyone taking advantage of his patients, or otherwise endangering them."

"How do _you_ know, then?" She hesitantly countered.

"Dr. Kuseno works with... a lot of different kinds of people. He doesn't discriminate against countries, or missing-nin, or actual spies, or known sleeper cells, or anyone else." Kisame explained after a moment of careful consideration. Kaisuki had no idea where he was going with what he was saying. "Right after he joined Akatsuki, I had to leave Itachi-san at that ward for six months because our employers were concerned that he might end up being a sleeper cell, since he did come straight from your village's Black Ops and all."

Kaisuki's eyes were wide. There was a pause after Kisame concluded his explanation before she finally spoke in response, "So... this Kuseno guy, he's definitely legit? And he's good?"

"Obviously, or I wouldn't be recommending him. Do you really think I would lie to you about something like this?" He retorted, "You should know better, Kaisuki. I'm the nicest guy you know, after all."

In light of the certainty behind her find, Kaisuki was able to crack a smile that felt at least somewhat genuine. She didn't know if Dr. Kuseno would be able to help Sasuke, but he was probably her best shot.

"How do I get in touch with him?" Kaisuki asked hopefully.

Kisame chuckled, "I sent him a letter already to tell him to reach out to you. I imagine you'll get something within a week or two." The swordsman told her. "He's going to want a case file with as much information as you can give him, so if you guys don't already have one of those, now would be a good time to start writing one."

Her eyes were beginning to burn and her voice was stuck in her throat all of a sudden, so she just nodded mutely. Kisame's expression softened and he chuckled lightly, placing a hand on Kaisuki's head and ruffling her hair.

"You've done enough, Kaisuki," he gently imparted. "And when your stupid teammates realize just how much you've done, they're going to be groveling at your feet."

Kaisuki place a hand over her mouth even as she let out a choked sound, which was soon followed by an onslaught of tears. Her shoulders were trembling as she struggled to regain her composure, sobs coming up her throat before she could think to swallow them back down. She didn't feel like she'd done anything at all. Everything had gone to pieces around her and she hadn't done anything aside from calling on someone else to solve her problem for her.

"I ha-haven't even," she mumbled quietly as she worked to master herself, "d-done anything."

Kisame chuckled sadly. "You clearly haven't looked in a mirror recently." He stated. "What you've done shows on your face. You're getting wrinkles and everything."

She let out a breath of laughter and let her arms drop to her sides. She was exhausted all of a sudden. "I have to go home and tell Tsunade-sama and... my team that I found something," she mumbled. She could hear in her own voice just how much she didn't want to go back and see them.

The tall swordsman hummed in agreement. "I'll be in the area, Kaisuki," he told her, "So let me know if you need me again, for anything at all."

Kaisuki looked up at him, "I will." She swallowed, her eyes beginning to burn again. "Thank you, Kisame. I... just, thank you."

"No problem," Kisame said with a cheeky grin. "Keep me posted on everything, kiddo. I'll let you know if something weird happens that I think you should know about." The Yurei smiled and she was sure that she looked terrible, but Kisame made no mention of it. "I'm out. Later, Tsukai."

"Later, Shigaki," she replied, and with a burst of white smoke that swirled around her in the gentle breeze, the shadow clone that Kisame had apparently sent to her disappeared. Kaisuki stood there for a long moment, taking in several stabilizing breaths before she started walking. She used her one sleeve to wipe her eyes and cheeks and sniffled a few more times, before she leaped up into the trees and took off.

She couldn't possibly know for sure that Dr. Kuseno would be able to help. She wasn't even sure if he'd be open to her story about demonic possession, or if she'd have to make something up to conceal that part of the details. She'd have to ask Tsunade-sama for her opinion on that matter.

" _Wow, it got a lot warmer in here than usual._ " Khrai's voice suddenly floated up from within. " _Did I miss something interesting? Did you find a cure-all?_ "

Kaisuki was unable to hold back the smile that split across her face. Itachi was still locked up in prison and Sasuke's future was still uncertain, but Kisame had given her a bonfire of hope. She didn't want to be too optimistic, but she felt strongly that Dr. Kuseno was the person she needed to talk to. She just hoped that he was as good as Kisame had said.

" _Maybe,_ " she replied to the elfin spirit. " _Kisame knows this guy..._ "

 


	10. divided, we change

His stomach was twisting into knots, and he was sure Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei were in much the same boat.

Naruto relentlessly gnawed on his nails - a habit he'd picked up over the past couple of very stressful years - as he walked down the halls of the Hokage's office building with his two remaining teammates. Kaisuki was supposed to be with them but, despite what she'd said about staying until they could deal with Sasuke, she had disappeared sometime in the early morning. Team 7 had tried to locate her, and then had tried waiting for her after leaving a note on her door, but she was a no-show.

So they were going without her. Naruto didn't mind it. She probably wouldn't have had anything truly productive to offer. She never seemed to. She'd said she was going out to see the world and learn more about herself and her clan and many other things, but she kept coming home or writing home with no updates, no news, no interesting findings, nothing.

He had a feeling she was hiding something from him, from all of them, but he didn't know what it could possibly be and he didn't particularly care anymore. She had grow up into someone stubborn and strong and independent and unkind and cold and selfish. He didn't like who she'd turned out to be. He didn't know what she'd seen or done while on the road that had caused her to go through such a drastic, distancing change. She didn't tell him anything anymore. He didn't know what she'd experienced, who she'd met, what she'd done, how she'd been surviving, or even where she'd been going.

They had grown so distant, it was sometimes hard to remember a time when they'd been close.

Kakashi-sensei knocked on the door when they reached the room Tsunade would be waiting for them in. "Come in," came the familiar, curt reply of the Godaime Hokage.

Naruto's jounin team leader opened the door and the three of them entered the room. His stomach was flip-flopping wildly and he genuinely didn't feel good. Tsunade looked somber and grim and that was a combination that he did not want to see on her face. She hadn't been very consistent with keeping them up-to-date on her search for a specialist for Sasuke, so he didn't know what the status of that was.

However, if he had to guess, he would say she had probably just received word from her last option.

"Bad news?" Kakashi-sensei asked in a tired voice. Naruto felt his stomach drop when Tsunade lowered her gaze to her desk. They already knew what "out of options" meant for Sasuke. Tsunade and Kakashi-sensei had already agreed that, if they couldn't find someone who could help the Uchiha, Sasuke would have to be... "put down," as they'd said.

Naruto had landed himself in jail for another night during that conversation. It had taken a couple of weeks, but it had finally sunk in that, short of kidnapping and running away with Sasuke (which wasn't safe for either of them), there was nothing Naruto was going to be able to say or do to convince anyone that they should keep Sasuke alive when he wasn't really living in the first place.

He knew that there was nothing to be done, but he couldn't let go.

"Yes," Tsunade quietly replied. It was at that moment that Naruto noticed a clipboard holding a few sheets of what looked like paperwork sitting towards the left side of the desk. He couldn't read it upside down, but he was pretty sure he knew what it was. "I just heard back from Hatori," it seemed like her voice was getting softer with every word. "We're officially out of options."

The statement felt like a punch to the gut, and it knocked the wind out of him. He felt numbed to the core and yet crushed by the weight of his emotions at the same time. Sakura-chan was very still beside him, and he found it strange. Had she been bracing herself for it the whole time, rather than clinging desperately to hope like Naruto had been?

He glanced over at her. Correct. Her green eyes had welled with tears but there was a blank, dead misery held within them that he didn't like. He was supposed to have brought Sasuke home. He was supposed to have rescued their teammate from the clutches of certain death (or whatever else the Uchiha attracted to himself), bring him home, and then persuade him to stay.

He was supposed to have prevented all of what was happening.

_"It's a man's promise, Sakura-chan. I'll bring him home, safe and sound."_

Well, Sasuke had certainly come home.

"I see," Kakashi-sensei replied after a deafening moment of silence. Naruto wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of anything to say. No one was going to listen to him and if he got worked up and started yelling, he'd just be arrested again. He'd probably get beaten into submission by his own teammates. He couldn't imagine them backing him up anymore.

"If you need a day or two to process and do whatever else you need to do, that's fine," Tsunade began. "But, Kakashi, I need you to sign this at some point."

She didn't specify what it was, she just indicated it. "I obviously won't do this without whoever from Team 7 wishes to be there," she continued. "So I need you two and Kaisuki to decide and add your name to this if you want to be there," she indicated a spot on the first sheet, looking at Naruto and Sakura-chan. All of sudden, she was all business, and Naruto felt like she was being very insensitive.

He wondered faintly what she was thinking about.

Kakashi-sensei took a step towards the clipboard and picked it up, reading it through with glazed eyes. Naruto didn't want to read it, so he remained where he was, a step or two back. He wasn't sure if he wanted to witness Sasuke's death or not. He felt like he ought to, but he didn't want to. Would Sasuke want his team to witness his death scene? He didn't know. He didn't trust anything that he had ever known about Sasuke, because he knew how long the Uchiha had been possessed.

He didn't remember what Sasuke was like when he was four. In fact, he was reasonably certain that he hadn't known Sasuke when he was four.

The sound of the door flying open startled him and he turned around to see who was intruding. He stared for a long moment when he realized it was Kaisuki. Her face was flushed as if she'd been sprinting full tilt for a good amount of time and she was completely out of breath. Naruto immediately found himself wondering where she'd been and why she'd come back. He felt like it would've been better if she hadn't.

He could tell that she was taking in the scene carefully, jumping to a variety of conclusions in an effort to deduce what was happening in the room. She always did that anymore. He didn't know why she was so against simply asking.

By the way her eyes stuck on a space to Naruto's left, about where Kakashi-sensei was, he could figure she was staring at the clipboard. Kaisuki slowly stepped into the room, giving the door a gentle push to make it swing shut behind her. Her facial expression was giving Naruto the impression that she was coming to the correct conclusions.

Finally, after a good two or three minutes of stifling silence, Kaisuki spoke: "I think I found someone," she said, stalking right past Naruto and Sakura-chan and coming to a stop in front of Tsunade's desk, beside Kakashi-sensei. "I should be hearing from him in... I guess in a couple of weeks, or something like that."

Tsunade looked surprised and uncertain. "Do you have a name?"

Kaisuki nodded. "Have you heard of someone named Kuseno Ogata?"

The Hokage blinked and Naruto could tell that she recognized the name. A rush of hope surged up his throat, but alongside it came a wave of anger. She'd found someone with incredibly convenient timing. If she'd been back more than a couple of days later, Sasuke would've been dead. She had suddenly disappeared and then reappeared. He found himself wondering if she'd actually been informed by someone that Tsunade was looking for Team 7, and if she'd been hiding from her team so she could appear at the proper moment with a supposed cure-all.

 _No, that's completely illogical._ Naruto countered his own argument. _Kaisuki... I don't think she'd do that._

But he didn't really know who she was. He hadn't really known her in a couple of years.

"Dr. Kuseno doesn't work with victims of brainwashing, or anything remotely similar to that," Tsunade replied tiredly. He could see that she was about to give Kaisuki the same spiel she'd given the rest of the team, but the Tsubaki cut her off.

"That's what I thought too," Kaisuki replied hastily. "But I have a friend I met while I was on the road, and he said that Dr. Kuseno _does_ work with victims of brainwashing, and that he's the best in the Shinobi Nations. He just keeps that bit of information under wraps because I guess he's concerned about the welfare of his patients."

Tsunade stared at Kaisuki with a faint frown on her face. "Who is this "friend" of yours, and how do they know all of this?"

Kaisuki paused for a split second before she answered the question. "His name is Shigaki, he's a bit of a nomad. But he's had his fair share of life troubles, and... well, he didn't tell me what happened or how it happened, he just said that he had to stay at that ward for six months, so he knows it's legitimate."

The story was sounding shoddier with every word. Or at least, it was to Naruto, and he was growing agitated by it. Kaisuki had come in like she was carrying the answer to life, the universe, and everything, and yet what she was saying didn't sound particularly trustworthy. He supposed it was possible that his senses were completely wrong, but he doubted it. Sakura-chan looked doubtful as well, and there was a glint in Kakashi-sensei's eye that Naruto couldn't read.

Tsunade nodded. She still looked uncertain, but she seemed like she was thinking deeply about something. Did the Hokage actually believe Kaisuki? "When did you say you were expecting to hear from him?"

"Shigaki said I ought to be hearing from him within the next couple of weeks, three at the most," Kaisuki repeated to the blonde woman.

There was a pause as Tsunade considered everything before she said, "I'll hold off for another three weeks and no more."

The Tsubaki swallowed and nodded, "I... I understand. I'll let you know as soon as I hear from him."

Without a word to any one of her teammates, Kaisuki turned around and walked back across the room and out the door. Naruto watched her go, his heart hammering, his mouth dry, and his head buzzing. She was hiding something. She was hiding something _and_ lying. He didn't believe what she'd said about Shigaki and Dr. Kuseno. Or at least, he didn't believe that that was the whole story.

He clenched his fists and glanced back at Kakashi-sensei, who was staring out the door after Kaisuki with an unreadable look on his face, and Tsunade, who met his gaze and narrowed her eyes. He didn't need her to tell him not to go after Kaisuki because he wasn't going to listen anyway, so he simply turned back around and stalked wordlessly out of the room, leaving the door open.

He spotted his (ex) teammate when he got outside. She was half a block away, and he started after her. He jogged up to a couple of yards away before he called out to her, surprised by the harshness of his own voice. "Kaisuki!"

Kaisuki slowed to a stop and turned around. She stood there and waited for him to catch up, never once speaking. He walked up to her, certain that his face was set in a scowl. "Are you trying to be funny or are you trying to be an asshole?" He heatedly snarled. "Shigaki? Who the hell is that?"

She stared at him for a long moment, eyebrows coming together in a glare. "He's a friend of mine. What's it to you? I thought you said you were done with my shit and wanted nothing further to do with me?"

"I didn't say any of that," he snapped in reply. "I just called you a useless bitch."

"Semantics," Kaisuki ground out in return. "What do you want? I doubt this is about me having friends that you don't know."

"Where did you really get that tip about Dr. Kuseno?" He demanded, "That doesn't sound like something just anyone would know."

The Tsubaki blinked, frozen for only a split second before she became indignant. "What are you accusing me of, Naruto? Lying? Treachery? Having a social life? Being better at networking than you?"

"I'm accusing you of being full of shit," he snarled cuttingly. "You have _remarkable_ timing, you know. Kakashi-sensei was about to sign Sasuke's death warrant, and you come barging into the room with a convenient, half-baked, bullshit story about some random ass guy you met on the road who told you about a doctor who only takes brainwashing victims in secret."

Kaisuki stared at him for a long, long moment, looking increasingly hurt and _furious_. "So, you're accusing me of using my teammate's horrible predicament to score brownie points with the rest of my team? You think I would just make something up in the hopes that you'll see I gave an effort and forgive me for not wanting to help you stalk Sasuke? In _this situation_ , of all _fucking_ situations?"

"If the shoe fits, wear it," Naruto spat venomously. "You don't give a shit about Sasuke or the rest of the team. You don't care about anyone here. You just want to leave without any regrets, but you're going to have them because I'm not going to apologize for seeing through your bullshit."

His eyes narrowed and he scowled at the girl who had once been his best friend in the whole world, no other feelings than hate and anger filling his chest where there had once been nothing but love and affection. "Why did you even come back? You're not needed here, so why don't you go back to your life on the road, where people know you a little better?"

His head swung to the side from the force of Kaisuki backhanding him _hard_.

"You're..." Izumi's voice startled him, and he turned back to face her in surprise. "So _cruel_. How can you blame her for what's happening? How can you blame _anyone_? This isn't anyone's fault, Naruto." She miserably told him. "If you want to blame someone, blame the thing that was possessing Sasuke in the first place.

"I cannot believe you _actually_ think that the girl who spent the most amount of active time watching over Sasuke from a distance is the one you need to be chasing away," the irou-nin was actively crying and people were still looking at them as they walked by. Naruto felt numbed and rooted to the spot. Izumi was the only one who hadn't confronted him, and for some reason what she was saying was hurting a lot more than what anyone else had said.

"She hasn't gotten a decent night's sleep in over a year because of that boy. She's run herself _ragged_ , and now the only family she has left is turning her away for something she didn't cause." Izumi said, taking in a shuddering breath. "You're _awful_ , Naruto. I'm so sorry that all of this happened to you, because you used to be the sweetest boy. I need to take her home. Goodnight."

Before he had a chance to defend himself (not that he was sure what he could've said), Izumi turned on Kaisuki's heel and started away from him, walking much faster than she had been before. He watched the young woman cross her arms and bow her head, and he felt sick. He felt numb. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

He dropped his gaze to the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets. Izumi always knew what to say to hurt people, whether she meant to or not. She probably meant it more as constructive criticism, but it really just felt like being beaten down by emotions and words.

His eyes were watering and he wiped them with the back of his hand irritably. He didn't care what she had to say. Izumi didn't have a clue what she was talking about. If Kaisuki had stayed, if she'd gone with them _one_ _time_ to get Sasuke, they would've been able to bring him home so much sooner and they would've realized that something was wrong just as quickly. And Izumi had implied that Kaisuki had known where Sasuke was the whole time. How could she have kept that information to herself?

He felt like he was being unreasonable and reasonable at the same time. Before he knew it, he was slamming the door to his apartment behind him and falling into his bed fully dressed, in the middle of the afternoon. Sakura was the only one who seemed to understand him and his feelings, but he wasn't sure she actually felt the same. Kakashi-sensei was identifying more Kaisuki and Tsunade was just trying to do what was best for the village, while minimizing casualties and refusing to offer Team 7 any favoritism, as she had noticeably done in the past.

They just didn't get it, and Naruto didn't think he could explain it.

...

Kisame didn't hear anything from Kaisuki at all for a little over two weeks after he told her about Dr. Kuseno. When he finally did, he was immediately given the impression that what he'd been worrying about had actually happened.

 _ Please _ _meet me at the south gate into Keishi._

She hadn't said much of anything in her letter. She hadn't specified what had happened, or who had happened or if she was planning to return, or anything. She hadn't told him why she was leaving the village or why she had needed to meet with him. She hadn't mentioned anywhere if she'd heard from Dr. Kuseno. There had been nothing in the letter except a pleaded request.

She also hadn't told him when, but he'd figured he'd just go the moment he got the letter and wait for her. He arrived in Keishi from the north about two and a half hours later, and as he stalked through the streets of the capital city of Hi no Kuni, he wondered what had happened. It had to have involved her team somehow. Either Naruto had done something or Sakura had said something. Those were the only possibilities he could think of, as it was _always_ Naruto or Sakura doing or saying something.

He sighed irritably. He wanted to eviscerate the currently sane parts of Kaisuki's team rather badly. If only they knew how much Kaisuki had done for Sasuke. If _only_.

He came out on the other side of Keishi, at the south gate, and spotted Kaisuki right away. She was sitting on a large rock, her fingers interlocked on her knees and her dull gaze on the ground. She evidently hadn't noticed that he was there yet. That meant that Saeka wasn't around. Kaisuki hadn't mentioned anything about the girl disappearing, but Kisame supposed that, in light of recent events, it made sense.

"Kaisuki," he called, and she flinched, blinked slowly, and looked up at him. Her eyes were rimmed with red and shadowed with extreme fatigue and her face was white as a ghost's. He walked over to her, gesturing for her to get up. He didn't know what she would need from him for her to feel any better at all, but he knew there were some things he could do for her without even stopping to ask what was wrong.

Kaisuki stared at him in dazed confusion before she stood up. "C'mon," he said simply, placing a hand between her shoulder blades and encouraging her to walk. Her first two steps were a little wobbly, but she recovered quickly as they started off, allowing Kisame to take the lead.

They walked down the main road until they reached a specific building. The Sohma Hotel was one of the wealthier hotels that generally hosted wealthier people, but Kisame had known the owner, Shigure, for some years. Kisame rarely stayed at the Sohma, as it was extremely expensive and Shigure was one of many people Kisame had lost contact with on purpose to protect him from Akatsuki's prying eyes.

He led the way into the large hotel, looking around. Everything was exactly as he remembered it being when he'd come through as a teenaged mercenary in search of his target, quite a few years ago. He wondered if Shigure would even recognize him. It'd been more than a decade. Then again, there weren't a whole lot of people who looked anything like Kisame.

Actually, he was pretty sure he was the last Hoshigaki left on the face of the planet.

He walked up to the front desk, to a younger man who looked extremely intimidated. "Can I help you?" The young man greeted tensely.

"Yes," Kisame replied, "Is the owner anywhere that would be easy for me to find?"

The young man blinked. "Oh, uh, um... I think he's here, I can go see if you'd like?" He seemed more than happy to shift responsibility to someone else. Kisame sort of wanted to grin, but he didn't need to scare the poor lad.

"I would, thank you." Kisame requested. The kid looked nervous leaving his station, but he stepped away and headed into a back room. He looked over at Kaisuki, who was wearing a bewildered expression as she looked around at all of the very expensive decor.

She looked like she wanted to question why they were at a ritzy hotel, but she didn't seem like she wanted to speak. At all. So she remained silent and just continued to look around until the young man return, an older gentleman following behind him.

"What can I ..." the older gentleman began and stopped, eyes widening in surprise and jaw dropping. " _Kisame_?"

Kisame smirked, "In the flesh."

Shigure laughed, his eyes twinkling. "It's been a while. What brings you through the Sohma?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could rent a room for the night," Kisame requested, "We need to catch up, too, a lot's happened. But that'll have to wait until tomorrow."

The broad smile that crossed Shigure's face was purely joy, though there was a hint of sadness that was present every time they saw each other, as rarely as it happened. Shigure wasn't expecting him to still be there in the morning, ready to chat for hours. Kisame wasn't even sure if he would be. He felt like he ought to, but there were slightly more important things going on.

"Of course you can, kid," Shigure replied warmly. "You ought to know by now that I'll always have a spare room for you." With that, the owner of the hotel reached under the desk and produced a seemingly random key, which he handed to Kisame. "You also ought to know where your room is."

He was and wasn't surprised that Shigure had kept a spare room for him for almost ten years. He smiled a bit more widely, a lot more genuinely, and replied, "Of course, I'm not senile yet. Thanks, old man. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Shigure nodded. Never once had he asked who Kaisuki was. He knew better than that. The less the older man knew about Kisame and his life and his friends and his comings and goings, the better. They knew they couldn't _really_ be close friends, like they both sort of wanted. Shigure wasn't a shinobi, he was just a hotel owner. Kisame should never have told him his name.

_"Can I get a little water, Mercenary-kun?"_

_"Can you be quiet for ten minutes? And my name isn't 'Mercenary-kun,' it's Kisame."_

Kisame turned away from the front desk and started towards the stairwell, Kaisuki trailing behind him. He had to consciously not slow down going up the stairs, reminding himself the whole time that his sick and dying partner wasn't with him, it was the perfectly healthy Kaisuki. It wasn't something he liked remembering, necessarily, but he liked Kaisuki well enough to enjoy her as a "replacement" for Itachi.

She was much more to him than just a replacement, but the fact of the matter was that she had replaced his previous partner.

They walked into room 2 and Kisame looked around. Literally nothing had changed. Same furniture, same wallpaper, same carpet, same pattern blankets, same cracks in the bottom of a corner on the far side of the room. It was nostalgic more than anything else, but he didn't dwell on it for more than a moment.

He turned to Kaisuki, "Alright," he said, "You're gonna go take a shower. Take as long as you want. When you're done showering, you're gonna take a nap. When you wake up, we'll drink tea and chat, alright?"

Kaisuki stared at him, looking very tired. "I can't sleep." She whispered.

"Yes you can," Kisame replied as he turned and crossed the room, over to one of the windows. He opened the window and pulled the screen out so that he could grab the flower bed hanging off the window ledge and bring it into the room. "Where is Izumi? Can you let her up for a minute?"

Kaisuki blinked, but nodded. She blinked and her eyes were instantly Izumi's forest green. "Yes?" Izumi asked, sounding just as tired as Kaisuki.

"I want you to make a little something to put her in a dreamless sleep. Make it as potent as you safely can." He requested in a rather business-like manner, setting the flower bed on the floor and pulling the flowers out of it. "I want her _out_."

A look of realization dawned on Izumi's face and she nodded, kneeling down and burying her hands into the dirt just as Kisame was pulling out the last flower. Her fingers began to glow a familiar, murky green. A couple of different flowers grew out of the dirt right before his eyes, purple and white and reddish-orange. Kisame produced a mortar and pestle from the pockets of his cloak (he was always prepared) and handed it to Izumi, who immediately started using it to crush the flower petals and leaves she was plucking into a paste.

He watched her work her magic, brooding. Kaisuki really hadn't been sleeping at all. If she'd only been having trouble sleeping, she would've said that. He wondered how long it'd been since her latest falling out with whoever. Had she stayed in the village for a few days afterwards, homesick for the road and miserably lonely while she was taking care of Sasuke? Or had she left as soon as it'd happened and dumped the responsibility on someone else? Had she heard from Dr. Kuseno and that was why she'd felt she could safely leave? Or had she just directed someone else to receive the message for her?

He looked up at Izumi, watching her work. She looked just as tired as Kaisuki had. All four of them had to be exhausted, emotionally drained, and in need of a century-long nap. He wished he could've been there for them. He wished he could've been physically present in the village. He supposed he could use a henge, but that didn't mean no one in the village would recognize his chakra. It was better to just be accessible from a distance.

"She should take three mouthfuls of this. You won't need to put it in tea or anything." Izumi said as she tapped the pestle off the side of the mortar to get the paste off it. "It's sweet and actually quite tasty."

Kisame nodded. "Thank you, Izumi." The irou-nin smiled sadly at him.

"Thank _you_ , Kisame," she said sincerely, looking sort of like she wanted to cry. Kisame offered her a smile, and a second later she switched out with Kaisuki.

"Did you hear what she said?" He asked. Kaisuki nodded.

"She said it'd start working really fast, too, so I guess I should shower before I take it," the Yurei mumbled. She sounded so weary.

But, Kisame didn't comment on it. He nodded curtly instead, and commanded, "Then hop to it."

Kaisuki looked up at him with an unreadable look in her eyes for a few seconds before she diverted her gaze away and nodded, turning and heading for the bathroom. She hadn't brought anything with her. She hadn't brought her backpack at all. It seemed as though she'd left in a hurry, without thinking about what she would need.

The bathroom door closed behind the Yurei and Kisame let out a sigh he'd been holding in since he'd first seen the weathered girl. He put the flowers in their bed, and put that where it went, piecing the window back together so that it looked like nothing had happened.

He heard the shower turn on and sat down in the armchair that sat beside the window. He really hoped that Izumi's concoction worked as well as he wanted it to. He wanted the girl to _sleep_ , without interruptions. He also wanted her to unload at him, but he was patient enough to wait.

He ought to work on clearing his head in the meantime, because he was sure he was going to want to butcher Team 7 after he got the story out of Kaisuki.

...

In the absence of Madara, it was quiet.

His ghostly companion had gone off to get an update on the status with Sasuke. If he'd been counting the minutes correctly, Madara had been gone for about eight days and sixteen hours. He ought to be back soon. Or at least, he hoped the dead Uchiha would be back soon. Itachi didn't mind waiting, but the silence was lonely and it gave him a headache.

Even though he'd been wanting nothing but silence for some years.

Itachi stared up at the ceiling. Madara's updates were basically all he lived for at that point. He wanted to hear how Sasuke was doing, even if it was bad news. The last time Madara had come back, he'd informed Itachi that Tsunade-sama was going to "put down" Sasuke if they couldn't find someone who could put him back together. After that outing, Madara had stayed with Itachi in his cell for about two weeks before leaving again, as the date of Sasuke's judgment had drawn near.

Itachi had spent half of that time having nervous breakdown after nervous breakdown. He'd been able to remain composed for about five to six hours at a time, and then something Madara would say or do would remind him of Sasuke and he'd go to pieces all over again. He was still struggling to keep his head clear, but he'd managed to regain some mastery over his emotions.

He rolled onto his side, facing away from the cell door. When Madara wasn't around, he felt raw and lonely. He hadn't realized how much of a staple the dead Uchiha had become in his life until he wasn't around for days on end. He wondered if Madara was as lonely as he was when they were separated.

He was so tired.

Itachi winced at the loud screeching noise the door at the end of the hall made. He immediately rolled onto his back and schooled his expression to indifference, even though he actually felt like crying again. It wasn't time for anyone to be bringing him a meal, so either something was wrong and they were going to Itachi to find answers because he'd been enrolled in the largest criminal organization in the Shinobi Nations for almost a decade _or_ they had finally decided to start trying to extract information from him.

He wanted to just tell them everything, but he needed to keep playing his part until he had the opportunity to die. Once he was dead, it wouldn't matter. Once he was dead, he wouldn't have to act anymore.

He almost couldn't wait.

He turned his head towards the cell door. The Wolf from before stood there, his mask hiding the glare that Itachi knew he was wearing. "Get up," he commanded shortly.

Itachi stared at him for a few seconds, deciding whether or not he felt like arguing about it. He didn't really. He was too tired for the "holier than thou" attitude and he didn't feel like being beaten into submission. Without his chakra, he was at a severe disadvantage.

With the softest sigh, Itachi sat up and swung his legs off the bed, rising without question and wordlessly putting his palms against the back of his head. The Wolf watched him closely for a good minute before he pressed his hand to the chakra receptor on the wall and opened the cell door. The Wolf took one step into the room, looking around suspiciously.

Itachi didn't move. His stomach was churning. He knew what part came next without having to ask. He'd been interrogated in several different villages, in several different countries, not to mention the specialized training Black Ops members had to endure as part of their indoctrination.

His experience with torture didn't make him feel pain any less than anyone else, though. It just meant that it took a lot more for him to start talking. They would already know that. They would have pieced together something just for him, knowing that their usual tricks wouldn't work. His stomach flopped as the Wolf walked further into the room, producing a pair of heavy-looking shackles from the depths of his black cloak.

Itachi was very careful not to make any sudden movements. He didn't wince when his arm was twisted behind his back roughly enough that he momentarily thought his shoulder was about to be dislocated. He bit his tongue when the shackles clasped around his wrists, immediately feeling that they were about a centimeter too small for his wrists. The circulation to his hand was being impeded and within seconds it was throbbing in time with his heart.

But he didn't move. Didn't react. Didn't show any sign that he was the slightest bit uncomfortable, even though his stomach was flopping and rolling. Even though his head was beginning to pound. Even though his heart was stuttering along in his chest like it wanted to stop. Even though his lungs felt like they were being constricted. Even though he felt faint because he hadn't been able to make himself eat in two days.

Even though he was internally _screaming_ for Madara to come back before they started hurting him.

 _Madara,_ _**please** _ _... I can't do this by myself anymore._

 


	11. keep calm and drink tea

When she opened her eyes again, it was still bright out.

Kaisuki had no idea how long she'd slept, but it felt like it had to have been a long time. Which meant she'd probably slept through the night and halfway through the following day. She felt more rested than she had in a year, though as a result of how long she must have slept, her body was extremely sore. She didn't particularly want to move.

_"When you wake up, we'll drink tea and chat, alright?”_

She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of talking about what'd happened between her and Naruto with Kisame. She didn't want to be talking trash about Naruto, and she didn't really want to inspire Kisame to _actually_ cut off his legs, either. She was so tired, she didn't really want to deal with any of it. She had kind of wanted to just hit the road and start looking for Teara again. Throw herself right back into it and forget about Naruto and Sakura and Konohagakure and everything else.

What happened in the village wasn't as important as what was happening out in the real world.

She still didn't know what was going on with Teara and Akatsuki and that whole mess. She didn't know what they were planning or what they were doing. She didn't even know where any of them _were_. Kisame hadn't found anything so far as she knew, but she wasn't sure if he'd have told her if he found something that didn't come across as important. She hadn't asked him to do that, he'd just said he'd let her know “if anything interesting happened.”

However, what Kisame would call “interesting” was what normal people would call “horrifying,” “ungodly,” “insane,” or any other things along the same lines.

She sighed to herself. The day she'd met up with Kisame had been the day before Sasuke was to be taken to the psych ward. He was probably already there at that point. She hadn't told anyone that she was leaving, she'd just left in the wee hours of the morning, without a word to anyone, without even leaving a letter. Usually she left some note or something for someone, telling them that she'd return.

She was going to write to Sasuke in six months (that was how long he was supposed to be gone) to tell him that, if he needed her, he just needed to send her a letter and she'd be there. Beyond a situation where he called on her, or someone else called on her on his behalf, she had no intention of going back. There wasn't much to go back to. She doubted Naruto would ever truly forgive her. Even after Dr. Kuseno had gotten in touch with her and things had started moving, he'd completely stopped talking to her. He had been going out of his way to avoid her, in fact. If he knew she was going to be somewhere, he wouldn't go.

Sakura had started talking to her again, sort of. They were back on speaking terms but Sakura and Kaisuki had nothing to say to each other. Sasuke was a depressing topic, Naruto was a touchy topic, and aside from that they had nothing to chat about. Kaisuki didn't want to tell Sakura about her life on the road and Sakura didn't want to tell Kaisuki about how close she and Naruto had gotten since the rest of the team had been out of the picture.

And besides, Sakura was still angry with her. Even though she claimed to be past it, she was far from done being resentful, and Kaisuki was just done with all of it. She didn't need their dysfunction and she didn't need their friendship. Even if he was one of the most infamous criminals in the Shinobi Nations, and even if being with him was treachery all by itself and could easily sign her death warrant, she had Kisame. He had been a better, closer friend than anyone from Konohagakure had turned out to be, ironic as that was. He had managed to fill so many gaps simply by being himself.

She sort of wished she could introduce her team to Kisame, formally. They'd probably learn a lot from him.

She sighed again and sat up, looking around the room. She hadn't taken much of a gander at it before. She'd just looked around with glazed eyes and a lack of attention to detail. The room was actually quite nice. Unlike most hotels she'd been in, everything matched and was in good taste.

Kisame was sitting in the armchair he'd been in when she'd first come out of the shower, his eyes closed and his expression still. She couldn't tell if he was sleeping. He and Itachi normally woke up at any and all noises, even if it was clearly just their partner or something. The only time she'd been able to get away without them waking was when Khrai cast one of her spells over them to keep them asleep.

“You certainly slept for a while,” Kisame spoke, his eyes still closed. Well, that certainly answered that question.

Kaisuki swallowed to wet her throat. “How long was I out?” She asked, rubbing at her eyes.

Kisame opened his eyes and glanced over at the wall above her head. She supposed there was probably a clock there. “A little over fifteen hours,” he replied, yawning and sitting up straight.

Kaisuki blinked. Izumi's concoction had certainly done the job. She hadn't slept that long... _ever_. “Oh,” she replied dumbly. Kisame chuckled and stood up, stretching.

“Are you hungry? I'm ordering breakfast, I'm starving,” he questioned, looking over at her as he wrote something down on a slip of paper.

She frowned slightly. Was she? She didn't really feel hungry, but she felt like she ought to eat something. She couldn't remember the last thing she'd eaten, and that usually meant she needed to feed herself. “Um... sure?”

“What would you like?” Kisame asked, hand poised over the slip of paper.

Kaisuki hummed thoughtfully, her eyebrows knitting together. She had been so terrible about feeding herself lately, usually she was just living on junk food and very little of it. She hadn't had a real meal in at least days, possibly a week or two.

“Sweet or salty?” Kisame asked after a long moment. Kaisuki glanced over at him, chewing her lip thoughtfully.

“Mm... salty, I think.” She quietly replied. Kisame thought for a moment before writing something down. He then slid the piece of paper halfway through a slit across the middle of the door.

“Someone will come grab it, they come by every hour, on the hour.” The blue-haired man explained. Kaisuki nodded silently and didn't say anything. She wondered faintly what he'd ordered for her.

Kisame crossed the room, over to a very small kitchenette, and put on some hot water to boil in a kettle. “This'll tide us over in the meantime, though.”

Kaisuki hummed again, but she still didn't speak. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say at that point. She hadn't been talking to anyone lately. Not since the last time she'd seen Kisame. Other than that, it'd simply been brief updates that lasted no longer than a minute or two. She'd been holed up in her apartment for a couple of weeks, drafting maps and plans and letters and brainstorming and conversing with Khrai and Izumi.

“So,” Kisame, apparently, could see that she was struggling. Thankfully. “I take it the straw broke the camel's back. May I ask what the straw was?”

Kaisuki stared at him blankly for a moment before directing a tired gaze to the bed. “Naruto... accused me of lying about Dr. Kuseno to score brownie points with the team so they'd forgive me for not helping with Sasuke,” she stated dully. Summarizing the whole encounter into a single sentence sort of distanced her from it, but hearing the harshness of her own words stung.

Kisame was quiet for a moment. “When was this?” He asked, his voice subdued. He sounded furious. _Great_.

“Two weeks ago, give or take a couple days,” she answered monotonously. “I stayed so I could set things up with Dr. Kuseno. Sasuke should be at the ward by now, he was supposed to leave this morning.”

Kisame hummed thoughtfully, but didn't speak for a bit. “Did he share his thoughts with anyone else?”

Kaisuki shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe, probably. He would've told Sakura. She's talking to me again but... nothing's the same as it used to be. I'm done with all of them. I don't...” she paused, her voice catching on her throat. She took in a shuddering breath, chuckling weakly and running a hand through her hair. Her eyes were starting to burn. “I don't want to go back again, I don't think.”

“Ever?” Kisame inquired.

Kaisuki's vision was becoming noticeably blurred, even as she was trying to fight back the urge to cry. “Ever,” she whispered in response. Kisame didn't say anything, just walked over and sat down on the bed beside her. She didn't look up, just stared at her hands, hot tears slowly spilling out of her eyes. She had never imagined that she'd _actually_ turn her back on her village.

Then again, she'd never imagined that her friends would turn their backs on her.

“Alright,” Kisame finally said with a heavy sigh. He sounded sad, but she wasn't sure why. “No problem. Do you want to go back to get anything?”

Kaisuki reached up and wiped her eyes, though it didn't help at all. “I don't know,” she mumbled thickly, “I left my backpack. I was going to grab it on my way out and I forgot.”

The ex-Akatsuki member hummed again, “I can go back with you, if you'd like. I'll disguise myself and we can go in, get your bag, and leave. We can even go at the ass crack of dawn so no one's awake.”

Kaisuki looked up at him, fully aware that she had to look like complete hell. She wasn't sure what to say. On the one hand, she'd love to bring him into the village as her bodyguard to punch Naruto if he came too close, but at the same time she didn't want to risk him getting caught and arrested. It was bad enough that Itachi was in prison. She didn't want to lose Kisame.

“I can also wait outside the village, nearby but out of sight,” he added.

Kaisuki nodded. “That would,” sniffle, “probably be better.”

Kisame smiled at her, an unreadable glint in his eyes. “Are you alright? Or rather, are you going to be alright? An answer to either or both will work.”

She chuckled tiredly. “I'm... I'll be fine,” her voice was quiet. She didn't mean for it to be as quiet as it was. She probably sounded pretty pathetic, to be honest.

“Good,” the swordsman replied. “Then, tonight around midnight, we'll head out to the village. We should be there by three or four, we can grab your things, and then we'll leave and never look back.”

Kaisuki sniffled again. “I'm going to write Sasuke when they let him out and tell him that he can call on me if he ever needs me.”

Kisame nodded, “Right, right. He didn't really have anything to do with the other two, so that's only fair. Not to mention, you're the only one who could help him out of most of the pickles I could imagine him getting into.”

Kaisuki smiled at his quip, but couldn't bring herself to actually laugh. A silence fell over them for only a few seconds before she spoke, “Thank you for... everything, Kisame.”

She didn't want to look up at him, but she knew that he was staring at her. After another pause, he replied. “Any time.”

Kaisuki didn't think she could have expressed to him in words just how thankful she was for him. If it wasn't for him, she'd be alone. If it wasn't for him, she'd have nowhere else to go. She'd had trouble finding places to call home since the day her family died. Kisame, it seemed, was more permanent than anyone else who had come and gone in her life. He didn't judge her, he didn't fight with her, he didn't get bothered by much of anything anyone said or did.

The only person Kaisuki had ever witnessed getting on Kisame's nerves was Itachi, actually.

She glanced out the window nearby. It was later in the afternoon than she'd thought. The sun was getting lower in the sky. There looked to be some clouds on the horizon, but they didn't look like storm clouds. They'd be returning to Konohagakure in seemingly no time to retrieve her things, and then she'd probably never set foot in her home town again.

It was depressing and freeing at the same time. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

…

He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been spitting blood and hyperventilating, but he felt like it had been an excessively long time.

Someone grabbed a fistful of his hair for the hundredth time and yanked his head up so he could look some faceless ANBU member in their dark eyes. “You're a pain in my ass, Uchiha,” was that a woman's voice or a man's?

They let go of his hair and he sagged, trying to control the tremor in his shoulders. He was cold and tired and he hadn't been in as much pain as he was then in some years. His jaw was clenched so tightly, his teeth had been hurting for... probably days, at that point. His head was pounding and he could feel every individual laceration, every individual bruise and broken bone.

 _It hurts_.

He forced himself to remain composed, didn't allow himself to cry or scream, even though he'd been frequently wanting to do both. He hadn't spoke a word to anyone at any point in time. He couldn't stop the shaking, but he could hold in the vocalizations and bury the emotions and refuse to cooperate. He was trained for that. Excessively trained for that.

He didn't like doing it alone, though.

They were saying something. He could hear their voices. He didn't know what they were saying – he couldn't understand that past the thudding of his head. He heard a few words, “hot poker” standing out among them as a word he _really_ didn't want to hear. His stomach twisted into an even tighter knot. If they were bringing a hot poker, he wasn't going to be able to not scream. Being burned was probably among the worst kinds of pain he'd ever experienced. It was one thing to be burned during battle, when the adrenaline could keep him going through the pain of his melted skin, but when he was restrained and not moving, he couldn't escape that level of pain.

His eyes were stinging but he didn't let the tears fall.

_Madara,_ _**please** _ _..._

Someone grabbed his hair again and pushed his head down, forcing him to lean forward to the point that his shoulders were straining. His breath hitched but he didn't make a sound. He wanted to throw up but he didn't make a sound. He was terrified of the next part... but he didn't make a sound.

There was no warning. In an instant he felt something white-hot press against his back extremely hard and he immediately tried to arch away from it, but they only increased the pressure. Didn't let up at all. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a sharp cry that quickly turned into a slew of curses and sobs and, eventually, screams. He writhed, trying desperately to get that burning heat off his back, but he was too well-restrained. He couldn't move. He couldn't get away from it.

After what felt like an eternity, they ripped the hot poker back, tearing off chunks of flesh that had burnt to the hot metal. He couldn't stop hyperventilating and he was reasonably certain that he was about to pass out for the hundredth time. The pain in his back was worse than any he'd felt in a _long_ time. He didn't want to go through that again, but he was sure that he would. He was positive that he would.

He still didn't speak, though. He couldn't give up his act.

_Madara... where_ _**are** _ _you?_

...

With the situation with Sasuke _finally_ resolved, Madara was truly excited to see Itachi again For once.

Every time before that, he had dreaded having to give the older of the two Uchiha brothers the news, as it was almost always something bad and it almost always resulted in a complete meltdown or fifteen. He didn't like being the bearer of bad news, especially not to Itachi. Itachi got enough bad news from every direction as it was. He didn't need to be told that the primary reason he was still alive was to be put to death for the convenience of the village.

He strode down the dimly lit hall that housed Itachi's cell – and only Itachi's cell – his mind buzzing. Sasuke had been sent to the psych ward early that morning, via a transport scroll. It'd been a quiet, weird goodbye between Team 7. Sasuke had been unconscious, and Naruto had been angry, and Sakura had been painfully hopeful, and Kakashi had been _tired_.

Kaisuki hadn't been there. She had left the morning before, without a word to anyone. Madara had been following her around, but stayed in the village when she left. He didn't know where she'd gone to, but he expected she had probably joined up with Kisame. Assuming she'd been able to find him again. He was reasonably certain she had started road-tripping with Kisame again, but he wasn't sure. He figured there weren't a whole lot of other things she could've been doing.

He looked around himself, frowning. All of a sudden he had a bad feeling. Stomach rolling, heart racing... something was definitely wrong.

Madara slowed his pace as he walked up to the door to Itachi's cell, sucking in a cold breath. The cell was empty. Itachi was gone. Where had he gone? He wouldn't have left without telling Madara if he'd had a choice. He knew better than to disappear when the dead Uchiha wasn't around. He knew better than to not be where Madara left him.

Instant panic.

Madara walked through the cell door, dead heart hammering away in his throat. He didn't want to go looking for the Uchiha. If Itachi returned while he was gone, he'd feel terrible, especially if Itachi needed him. The best thing he could do was stay put and wait, but he knew he was going to be panicking until Itachi was back. How long would that take? And _where_ was Itachi? Where had he been taken to?

“ _I have to admit, I'm a little surprised that I haven't been taken to the basement for interrogation yet.”_

Madara's stomach dropped. Was that where he'd been taken to? It'd been almost a month since he'd been imprisoned and they hadn't taken him to be interrogated yet. Madara had been sort of hoping that Itachi wouldn't be taken for interrogation at all after the second week. He knew it was a stupid thing to hope for – Itachi had been a core part of the largest and most powerful criminal organization in the Shinobi Nations. There was no way Konohagakure wouldn't at least _try_ to get that information out of him.

For the billionth time, he wished he was alive.

His fists clenched tightly and he swallowed hard. How long would he have to wait before they brought Itachi back? What kind of condition would he be in? Would they so much as bandage any of his wounds, even just enough to keep him alive? Or would they leave him untended to for some hours (or days) before showing up to prevent him from succumbing to a fever caused by seriously infected injuries? What would Madara be able to do? The best he could offer was to numb the parts that hurt the most, but that only helped so much.

And then, of course, there was the main question: Would they be able to get Itachi to talk?

To be perfectly honest, Madara _seriously_ doubted they'd manage to get him to talk. A lot of different, significantly crueler people had gotten their hands on Itachi before, and he hadn't uttered a word. He'd been detained by Kirigakure, Shimogakure, and Takigakure. He'd also allowed himself to be captured by a very influential and wealthy man from Nami no Kuni.

Itachi had had to let them do whatever they wanted to him for four days before Kisame was permitted to rescue him. It was a period of time they very purposely _never_ spoke about. Some things were better off being forgotten about. Itachi liked to pretend that the awful things he'd been through didn't affect him. He liked to pretend that he was without emotion or physical feeling.

Itachi just generally liked to pretend that nothing was ever wrong, even though it was _obvious_ to Madara that everything was always wrong.

.

He didn't want to wait any longer, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. Madara chewed his lip agitatedly. It'd been several hours since he'd returned from the outside world and Itachi still wasn't back. He wanted to go look for the kid, but he didn't know where to go and it would be just his luck for Itachi to return as soon as Madara left.

He also didn't know where they'd taken Itachi to interrogate him (assuming that was where he was). The prison was _huge_ and the basement went three floors below the ground and was just as spacious as the rest of the building. It was a large enough facility that Itachi was on the very first floor, in the very back of the prison, with an entire solitary confinement hall to himself.

It was large enough that Madara hadn't actually seen any of the other hundreds of inmates that he _knew_ were there. They just weren't on the way to Itachi's cell from the front door. It was as if the entire first floor of the prison had been cleared out specially for Uchiha Itachi.

He scowled. He was beginning to truly resent Konohagakure, for entirely unfair reasons.

He stood up hastily when he heard the door to solitary confinement open, his hands wringing in front of him because he didn't know what else to do with them. His dead heart was thumping away in his throat and he was stricken with terror. How bad was it? Was the Uchiha going to be in dire need of medical attention? Had they bandaged him up? Was he conscious? How long had he been at the mercy of whoever the lead interrogator was?

Madara swallowed hard. He could hear three sets of footsteps and the sound of someone being dragged across a stone floor. Itachi had to be unconscious, then. He took a step to the side, putting himself near the wall so that he wouldn't be in the way – if they dumped Itachi on his feet, the living Uchiha would not hit the ground all the way and they might get suspicious about that.

The Wolf was the one in front, and he stepped up to the door to the cell and pressed his hand against the chakra receptor to open it. The two that had been following the Wolf brought up the rear, and Madara caught only a glimpse of Itachi's completely limp form. He _was_ unconscious.

The two faceless Black Ops members that were dragging him along by the wrists pulled him far enough into the small cell for them to be able to close the door behind them and promptly let go, allowing the unconscious Uchiha to hit the floor rather hard. The Black Ops team then slammed the cell door behind them and stalked away. Judging by every bit of body language they were exhibiting, the interrogation had ended in failure. They seemed pretty angry about it, too.

The door to the hall slammed shut extremely loudly, the noise reverberating through the hall. As soon as the door had shut, Itachi's eyes flew open (apparently he'd been _feigning_ unconsciousness) and he rolled to the side facing Madara with a thin sound, reaching his hand over his shoulder but leaving it several inches away from his skin. He was breathing heavily. Actually, it sounded like he was sobbing.

_You must have been holding that in the whole time._

Madara slowly stepped towards the quivering Uchiha, kneeling down before him. He reached out a hand hesitantly and gingerly laid his weightless hand on Itachi's rather badly swollen and bruised right shoulder, knowing that it wouldn't hurt as long as he didn't move the kid. Immediately, Itachi stilled. His breathing was still close to hyperventilating and he was occasionally whimpering, but he stopped moving.

“ _Itachi?_ ” Madara called gently. He wanted to shake the kid a little but he didn't want to aggravate his injuries. He had no idea where the worst of them were. He had no idea _what_ the worst of them were. “ _Hey, anybody home?_ ”

Itachi slowly moved so that he could see Madara, making a few thin noises of pain. His eyes were half-lidded and rimmed red and his nose was broken and his lip was swollen and split. The ghost could see a ring of _dark_ bruising around his throat, countless lacerations – some clearly caused by a serrated blade – and every digit on his right hand looked to be broken or dislocated, joints swelled up to about four times their normal size, red and bloody and bruised. He wasn't wearing a shirt anymore and he was visibly shivering (or perhaps he was just shaking, Madara couldn't really tell).

He reached out a hand shakily and gingerly pressed his palm against Itachi's cheek. Immediately the shivering was exacerbated, but Itachi closed his watering eyes and didn't move.

“ _What hurts the most?_ ” He asked softly, brushing Itachi's cold, wet hair out of his face. Madara didn't need to ask which torture method had gotten Itachi's hair wet.

Itachi didn't look him in the eye. The kid never did when he was in what he would describe as a shamefully weak condition. The living Uchiha shuddered, taking in a shaky breath and letting it out in a sob.

“My... back,” he whispered. Talking normally probably would've hurt his throat. Madara nodded, silently, waiting for the rest of the explanation. “I th-think they... branded me with... s-something.”

Madara became very still at that. His head was buzzing. He wanted very badly to be alive so he could kill everyone in the village, even though he knew perfectly well that that was a terrible solution. With his jaw tighter than it had ever been, Madara moved behind the kid so he could survey the damage.

He froze when he saw what they'd done.

All Black Ops ANBU members had identical tattoos on their left bicep. Just two lines that sort of swirled into each other, very simple and fairly inconspicuous if someone didn't know the meaning of the mark.

The Wolf had (or had his cronies) brand that same mark across Itachi's back, horizontal when it was supposed to be vertical. Madara recognized it because he'd done it to people before. It had started in the Uchiha clan and had later been adopted by the Black Ops.

It was a brand used to mark traitors.

They had done a good job, too. They must've found some very creative way to make Itachi hold still, and the thought of it was making him rather sick. The brand was neat and _deep_. They had put a lot of pressure into it and they had held it there for too long. Almost all of it was a third degree burn, and in some spots the skin had been completely ripped off after it had likely melted to the metal. It would scar horribly, and it would _never_ go away. They had put effort into making sure Itachi would have to live with it for the rest of his life.

_What little of your life is left, at any rate._

He cleared his throat and told himself to shut up rather aggressively.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't bandage it. The best he could do was to ice it with his frigid hands, but he wasn't sure if that would help or make the pain worse.

Itachi had grown very quiet. Madara looked up from the burn, staring at the back of Itachi's head. Had he passed out?

“ _Itachi? You still with me?_ ” He asked gently. Itachi hummed weakly in reply, but didn't move. He had to be in a world of pain. “ _Would you prefer to lay on that cot? It's not comfortable but it's better than stone._ ”

“I don't... want to move,” Itachi whispered hoarsely in reply. Madara sighed softly.

“ _Okay_ ,” he replied. “ _I can carry you, and it'll probably numb your back. That okay?_ ”

Itachi didn't answer him for a long, painfully quiet minute. “I...” he groaned, and then made a thin sound of discomfort. “It might hurt,” he finished in a small voice. Madara stared at him. Itachi wasn't usually so... he didn't want to say weak, but he would say “pain intolerant.” Itachi could handle pain with the best of them. He had been trained _extensively_ so that he could withstand as much as two weeks of endless torture, perhaps longer. He'd never been detained or otherwise held against his will for more than a week, but he could go longer. He could _definitely_ go longer.

“ _Yea, probably,_ ” Madara bluntly responded. “ _But being off the floor will be worth it, trust me._ ”

Itachi made another thin, weak sound. The ghost sighed and looked around suspiciously before adjusting himself back into a kneel and helping Itachi to sit up a bit, not even giving him a real opportunity to say he didn't want to be picked up. The living Uchiha made a series of noises and curses, ending in a whimper that turned into another sob. Madara's chest was aching for him, but he didn't let up. He pressed his hand against the burn on Itachi's back and the kid shuddered, arching his back away. It did hurt, then. Either that or it was too cold for how weak, dehydrated, and malnourished he was. He probably ought to avoid touching Itachi too much, even though he knew that the living Uchiha probably needed the contact.

He moved his hand and instead wrapped his arm around Itachi's shoulder, sliding the other underneath the kid's legs and hefting him up. Itachi started shivering violently almost immediately, so Madara quickly carried him over to the cot, ignoring the pained noises he was making, and set him down carefully. He assisted the Uchiha in rolling onto his left side, facing the rest of the cell. There were tears actively flowing and he was shaking all over. Madara had probably aggravated a fair amount of injuries.

He felt a little bad about it, but he knew that the pain would subside at least a little over time. Besides, Itachi would probably hurt slightly less on the cot compared to on the floor.

“ _Do you want me to put your fingers back in place?_ ” Madara asked quietly, touching Itachi's face again.

The Uchiha opened his watering eyes, looking at his ghostly companion miserably. Then, he lifted his limp, swollen hand and stared at it for a moment. It looked extremely painful, and Madara knew that Itachi sort of needed his right hand for a variety of reasons.

Finally, he hummed a quiet affirmative, looking like he was regretting it as soon as he make the sound. Madara nodded, not allowing him to back out, and gingerly put his hand under Itachi's. “ _Ready? I'm going to do this really fast, and it's going to_ _ **hurt**_ _._ ”

Itachi closed his eyes, grimacing and very clearly bracing himself. After a moment, he nodded slowly. Moving as fast as he could without jostling Itachi's hand too much (which was still quite fast), he went through each finger, yanking on it hard to put it back in place. The only ones that were actually broken were his index and middle fingers. The rest were simply dislocated at every joint, making it rather easy for him to put Itachi's hand back together.

When he was done, he opened his mouth to remark on how impressed he was with how quiet Itachi had been, but when he looked up and saw that the kid had buried his face in his left hand and was shaking even more than he'd been a moment ago, he thought better of it. He was definitely hyperventilating and what Madara could see of his face was _white_.

But, he was done. Itachi's fingers were back to normal, though they were still blown up hugely. The deformities were gone though, and the joints were all back in place. The breaks were back together too, though Madara didn't have a splint. They'd just have to be careful.

He stood up long enough to sit down on the bed, rather than kneeling in front of it. Madara didn't know what else he could do at that point. There were no words he could offer, there was no medical attention he could give.

He hated being a ghost.

Then, it hit him. There _was_ something he could say.

“ _Oh,_ ” he said softly, scooting closer to Itachi. “ _I almost forgot... Sasuke's taken care of._ ”

There was a pause before Itachi lowered his hand from his ashen face. He looked vaguely confused. “W... what?” Itachi croaked in confusion, appearing to be prematurely devastated.

“ _He's been sent to a psych ward somewhere,_ ” Madara clarified. “ _To be treated by Dr. Kuseno._ ”

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction. “Doctor... Kuseno?”

Madara nodded. “ _The very same._ ”

Immediately, Madara could see a load of stress come off Itachi's shoulders. The kid's black eyes welled up with tears again and he took in a shuddering breath that he let out in a harsh, relieved sob. He buried his face in his hand again and the ghost just smiled sadly at him.

It wasn't fair how much of the weight of the world Itachi had to carry. It wasn't fair that he had to suffer the consequences of the actions and decisions of others. It wasn't fair that he was seen as a murderer and a criminal, despite all that he'd done for the village. None of it was fair and it pained Madara to see the results of all the injustices his living companion had suffered.

“ _He'll be alright,_ ” Madara gently spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “ _He's in good hands, finally._ ”

Itachi didn't reply, but Madara hadn't expected him to. He lay there and cried for only a few minutes before he passed out. Madara watched him sleep for a short while, before he very carefully picked up the flimsy blanket and laid it over the kid. Then, Madara laid himself down behind Itachi and cuddled up to him, the blanket between them to provide Itachi relief from the cold. If they weren't touching, Itachi couldn't feel the chill as much.

Madara sighed softly, draping a weightless arm over the kid's side. He was so furious with the Black Ops team that had interrogated him. He was furious with the Sandaime Hokage, even though he was dead. He was extra furious with Danzou, who _knew_ about the mission to wipe out the Uchiha clan. The least he could do was get Itachi out of prison and back on the road.

Itachi loved Konohagakure more than any other person in the village. He had given up everything from his family's lives to his own personal freedom to his _sanity_. He was broken in so many ways and no one knew it because the kid didn't let anyone see that side of him. He didn't let anyone in that close. He hadn't called anyone a “friend” since Shisui had died, and even Shisui hadn't known everything – not even close. He hadn't even called Kisame a friend, even though it was clear that that was the nature of their relationship.

Itachi had no one and nothing.

 _Well,_ he challenged his own thought, smiling tiredly. _At least you've got me, right?_

 


	12. it's a promise

He felt like, if the gaps in his memory weren't so large, he wouldn't have been so anxious.

He'd been told by so many people about a few of the things that he'd done – defecting from the village, killing Orochimaru after training under him for three years, almost killing each member of Team 7 at least once – but he didn't remember most of it. There were some things he remembered with extreme vividness, but a lot of it was a blur of darkness and a faint feeling of loss and loneliness. He'd been so far under most of the time, he hadn't realized he'd been under at all. He hadn't realized he'd turned into a bit of a monster. He hadn't realized he'd abandoned the village. He didn't even remember the day he'd left. He didn't even really remember making the decision to leave.

He remembered waking up after his surgery post-Sumi encounter, going home, and looking in the bathroom mirror after splashing cold water on his face. He didn't remember what he'd seen that had so thoroughly angered or frightened him, but he remembered putting his fist through that mirror, he remembered the sharp pain in his knuckles and the wretched feelings that he hadn't been able to identify.

He vaguely remembered a conversation he'd had with Kakashi-sensei a few days later, but he couldn't remember exactly what was said. He just remembered feeling angry and lost and frightened of himself. After that conversation, he'd gone home to his mess of an apartment (he had thoroughly _trashed_ it, destroying everything he owned and probably getting a noise complaint from the neighbors), and blacked out for a long, long time.

“ _ **You're useless. You're pathetic, weak, and**_ _ **useless**_ _ **. Obviously I can't ask you to do anything since you're so keen on fucking up literally everything. You never listen. You can't follow directions to save your own miserable life. If you weren't**_ _ **necessary**_ _ **, I'd kill you myself.**_ _”_

Every time he remembered that voice that had spoken to him for so many years, keeping away the loneliness but constantly berating him for everything he did and didn't do correctly, he felt caught between a painful loneliness caused by the silence in his mind and a dark, burning anger that he wasn't entirely comfortable with. He had spent many years trying to please that voice without even realizing that it was bizarre for him to be trying to please a voice in his head. It was just his subconscious, he'd told himself. It made sense for him to speak to himself like that, considering how useless and worthless he was.

He was such an idiot.

Every time he thought something like that, he expected someone to whisper in his ear – _**no kidding**_ – but he hadn't heard it since the thing that had apparently been in him had been removed or killed or whatever had happened.

That wasn't information he'd come by thanks to Dr. Kuseno. He'd been given a letter that had been addressed to him by Kaisuki and Khrai (who he did not quite remember clearly) once he'd regained his senses and his ability to think for himself.

That had taken two of the six months he'd been at the psych ward. He didn't have a clear memory of those first two months. Apparently, the type of therapy he'd been going through had been as intensive as irou-ninjutsu combined with psychotherapy could get. Dr. Kuseno had told him that he'd never had a patient take as long to come back to themselves after a psychotic break as Sasuke had. After reading the letter that had been given to him, he completely understood why.

He didn't remember _clearly_ , but he remembered the day he'd been possessed. He knew what had happened, at least. Sitting at the edge of the docks, waiting for the Spring Festival fireworks. Itachi had come looking for him, and just as he'd turned around and waved to his brother, something had grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him underwater.

He remembered that Itachi had dove into the water after them, and that his brother had given him the air he'd had in his lungs and pushed him to the surface while simultaneously letting himself sink further and further into the inky black water. He remembered that, when he'd broken the surface, mom and dad had been there. Mom had gotten him out of the water, and he remembered the first thing he'd said.

“ _I-Itachi's still in the water, he's..._ _ **something's**_ _got him!”_

Dad had promptly gone into a frenzy to get his son out of that water. Sasuke remembered that, after almost three minutes of being underwater, Itachi was reunited with dry land and he had drowned. _Drowned_. He remembered that it had taken his mom, an irou-nin in her lifetime, almost five minutes to get Itachi to breathe on his own.

He remembered the very first thing that had been said to him by that lake monster.

“ _ **You're not Itachi.**_ _”_

It had sounded furious. It had woken him out of a dead sleep at three in the morning and it had frightened him to the point that he'd gotten out of bed and gone to sleep in Itachi's room. Even though his brother had been in the hospital, remaining unconscious for almost twenty-four hours before he'd come to. Even though he had been explicitly told by literally every member of his immediate family that he was _not allowed_ in Itachi's room without his brother being in that room.

He'd been in a lot of trouble the following morning and he'd _still_ lied about it.

“ _I just had a nightmare, I'm sorry, it won't happen again.”_

His father, head of the clan and the police force, hadn't believed him. He was trained to see lies, but he had put word after word in Sasuke's mouth for him - _“Let me guess, you were freaking out because of what happened last night, since he's not home yet? You don't have to lie, Sasuke.”_ \- to the point that Sasuke himself hadn't had to do much more than look pathetic and nod.

They'd visited Itachi before he'd woken up, and then Sasuke hadn't been allowed to see him again until he'd come home. He'd looked like a dead person and it had only made the younger brother feel worse. If he hadn't been on that dock, he wouldn't have been dragged into the lake, and if he hadn't been dragged in, his brother wouldn't have had to jump in after him, and if his brother hadn't been in that lake, he wouldn't have _drowned_.

If he hadn't been on that dock that night, he would never have been possessed in the first place. If he had ever in his _life_ been able to just _follow direction_ , he wouldn't have wound up killing his beloved older brother, whom he would never have hated a day in his life if he'd been given the option to feel and think for himself.

“ _ **You can't follow directions to save your own miserable life.**_ _”_

“ _Actually, Sasuke... your brother is dead. I had heard that you killed him.”_

_Why couldn't he have taken me with him?_

_I just want to know why he abandoned me._

_I miss him._

_What did I do wrong?_

He hadn't been allowed to think those thoughts since the moment he'd had them, when he'd first woken up in the hospital with Kaisuki by his side after... that day.

_I miss her, too._

He hadn't seen Kaisuki in four years. He hadn't been on friendly speaking terms with her since a couple of weeks after the... after that night. She had voiced her opinion to him only once, and that had been all it had taken for him to get into a screaming match with her before cutting her out of his life as though she'd been nothing to him.

“ _I mean... I dunno, Sasuke. I told you before, didn't I? It doesn't... what he says doesn't make sense. There's no way Itachi's been acting like the perfect child when he wasn't from the ripe old age of_ _ **five**_ _. There might be more to it than we can see right now.”_

The longest period of lucidity he'd had since he'd blacked out had spanned approximately two or three hours. In those hours, he'd been told by someone he couldn't remember at all about Itachi's mission to wipe out the clan. About the suffering he'd been doing since then. About the fact that he had been sick and _dying_ when they'd had their final battle.

Kaisuki had been right all along.

If Itachi had been trying, and if he hadn't been sick, he could almost definitely have taken Sasuke out. He could've killed Sasuke easily. He had never been on his brother's level, and he doubted he ever would be. After hearing that story, Sasuke, naturally, had been hysterical. But then anger at Konohagakure had set in, anger at _everyone_ had set in, and he'd blacked out again.

“ _ **You can't follow directions to save your own miserable life.**_ _”_

Sasuke sighed, looking over at the clock on the wall. He'd been sitting in the lobby waiting for Team 7 since six in the morning. They weren't supposed to be there until sometime between one and two in the afternoon, and it was only ten. He had some hours left before they'd get there.

He rubbed at his eyes. He was so tired. Six months of intense rehabilitative therapy was exhausting. He wanted to go home and go to sleep for the rest of eternity. He had still been having difficulty sleeping, but the nightmares had been mostly at bay. He still had them, but not every night. On the other hand, when he _did_ have them, they were awful. He didn't dream of the night of the... of that night anymore. Not often, anyway. He had other things to have nightmares about.

The scars on his wrists, he'd noticed, had continued to worsen since he'd first blacked out and left the village. He would've thought that the scratching would've stopped when he wasn't in control anymore, but it had seemed like it'd only gotten exponentially worse. He was sure that if it wasn't for the fact that they had been keen to keep him alive, he would've died while he was there by way of scratching holes through his arteries.

None of them had been able to do or say anything to get that problem under wraps, so another someone he couldn't remember had been charged with regularly tending to Sasuke's arms. They had tried... many things. Everything from various forms of sleeping medications to whatever methods Teara thought of.

He remembered that Teara had quite the imagination.

“ _I c-... I can't... breathe... T-Teara, I can't...”_

“ _I have better things to be doing than dealing with_ _ **you**_ _, so it would be in your best interests to_ _ **shut up**_ _. Or else I'm going to show you exactly why Saeka is so afraid of me.”_

_He could only whisper in a small, wheezing voice to reply, “I-I'm sorry...”_

His stomach twisted at the series of images that flickered in and out of the forefront of his mind. Teara was called on for a variety of reasons. If someone was being troublesome, Teara dealt with it. If someone needed to be interrogated, Teara dealt with it. If Sasuke was causing a problem _,_ Teara dealt with it.

“ _I swear, it's almost like you_ _ **enjoy**_ _this. If you wanted my knife on you this bad, you could've just asked.”_

His heart rate was starting to rise and he clenched and unclenched his fists over and over. He had been told by Dr. Kuseno multiple times that, despite all the work they had done on the memory gaps, there were still some things he had yet to recall. There were awful traumas he had thoroughly blocked off from himself, and since they had stirred up so many of those traumatic memories, he ought to expect that there were going to many more that would come to light. Especially over the next few years.

Sasuke was terrified of the things he was going to remember. The things he had already recalled and the flickers of things that had continued to pop up, sometimes randomly and sometimes not, were horrible enough as it was. He remembered too many instances of Teara... of...

He shuddered, taking in a shaky breath and trying to clear his head of the series of images and brief scenes that were coming to mind. He could feel eyes on him. The nurse that had to sit with him while he waited for Team 7 to show up to take him home was probably staring at him, indexing his condition. He didn't acknowledge that he'd noticed, just started spinning the black bracelet on his wrist. He couldn't take it off until Kakashi-sensei signed the discharge papers.

White bracelets were for people who weren't dangerous at all. Red bracelets (which was what he'd started out with) were for people who were a danger to others. Black bracelets were for people who were a danger to themselves. All of the bracelets cut off patients' access to their chakra.

Sasuke couldn't _wait_ to take his off. After spending so much quality time with the likes of Teara, he was really, really, _really_ not comfortable with his state of helplessness. If someone came after him, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He had been fretting about the possibility of Teara seeking him out for whatever reason, though he wasn't sure why. He felt like he was probably in trouble with that terrifying person, but he didn't remember what he'd done wrong.

“ _If you don't hold still, I'm going to do a lot worse than what I promised.”_

Teara's voice was another one he couldn't seem to forget about.

He swallowed, beginning to feel ill again. He was trying to keep his mind off it, he really was. But the anxiety he felt about seeing Team 7 again seemed to be triggering all kinds of things he'd been holding at bay. He was scared to see them again. He didn't know if they would want him back on the team. He didn't know if he'd be _allowed_ back on the team. He didn't even know if he'd be allowed to carry on as a shinobi. Would they take that away from him, too? Everyone had taken everything else from him, why not take the only thing he had to do with himself now that his brother was dead and he didn't have someone else deciding what he ought to do for him?

“ _Actually, Sasuke... your brother is dead. I had heard that you killed him.”_

His eyes stung. He didn't want Itachi to be dead.

_You couldn't have just taken me with you when you left the village, could you?_

He heard the bell chime when the door to the lobby opened. He glanced up habitually and froze, eyes widening. He recognized her right away. Same vivid red eyes, same violet scarf wrapped around her waist, same ghastly pale skin that reminded him that she was a chronic insomniac. Even the clothes she wore were similar. She looked tired and somewhat sad, but she was attentively listening to the front desk receptionist as she explained whatever it was she was explaining.

Then, he noticed that the rest of Team 7 wasn't with her. Immediately, he was confused. He had been told that the entire team would be there to take him home, no earlier than one in the afternoon. Kaisuki shouldn't have been there as early as she was, and she definitely shouldn't have been there by herself. Kakashi-sensei was the only person authorized to sign his discharge papers. He couldn't leave until those were signed.

_Why did you come alone?_

He had a bad feeling, but he ignored it. His heart swelled and, without thinking, he stood up. He was afraid to walk over to her, but he-...

“Sasuke,” his assigned nurse, Juritsu, said his name and he flinched, having momentarily forgotten that she was there. “What is it?” She asked when he looked over at her.

“I... that's... that's Kaisuki,” he replied uncertainly, indicating the red-eyed girl that was still conversing with the front desk woman. “I don't know why she came alone, but, um... can I go talk to her?”

Juritsu closed her book with a snap and stood up, “Of course you can, don't be silly.” She teased gently, and he smiled weakly at her before turning away and walking over at a brisk pace. He was very aware of her following him over at a slower pace.

Kaisuki noticed his approached when he was about ten feet away from her and she turned to look at him, eyes widening, completely forgetting about the woman she'd been talking to. She took a step forward, glancing down at the ground and spotting the red line she was toeing, before looking back up at him. He could tell she was resisting the urge to just walk across it, but he knew that she would be in a _lot_ of trouble if she did, so he held up a hand to indicate that she shouldn't and picked up his own pace.

By the time he got to her, he felt like he was shaking so hard he'd fall to pieces. Knowing well that he wasn't supposed to, he essentially threw himself at her, hugging her tightly. She froze for only a second before he felt her relax and return the gesture.

“I'm so, so sorry,” he whispered, completely unable to control the tremor in his voice and his shoulders.

Kaisuki chuckled sadly, “You're not the one who should be apologizing.”

After a moment, they pulled away, and Sasuke asked the burning question. “You're... really early,” he said slowly. “And... where are the others?”

The Yurei immediately diverted her gaze to the ground, reaching up a hand and pressing it to the back of her neck. “They're, um... I didn't come with them. I... haven't seen them in a while.” She said softly. “I haven't been home in six months.”

Sasuke blanched. That was a long time to not be home. He hadn't even realized she'd left home in the first place. How long had _this_ been going on? “Six... why? What... did something happen?” He asked, his heart leaping into his throat. Kaisuki looked down at the floor, her expression falling.

“I... don't want to be talking trash about Naruto,” she said softly. “And I don't want you to ask him because I know he'd talk trash about me at this point.” Sasuke blinked, caught between confused and horrified. Naruto and Kaisuki had been close friends last he'd known. What had happened to change that so drastically? “So, if you want the full story, you should go to Kakashi-sensei, because he's spoken to all of us. All I'll say is that Naruto hates me now because I refused to help him drag you home, and he blames me for you being so far gone. Sakura resents me as well, for the same reason, but I guess she's willing to be civil.”

Sasuke froze. They had … “broken up” because of him, too? All three of them? He was sure Naruto and Sakura had become closer than ever, but for them to have completely chased Kaisuki out of the village...

“I... I'm sorry,” he replied quietly, staring at the floor.

Kaisuki shook her head, smiling sadly. “It's not your fault, Sasuke. I could've just gone ahead and helped them, but I didn't want to force you to come back when I knew... well, when I _thought_ you didn't want to be there,” she told him. He didn't really feel better about it. “And anyway, I didn't... come here for that.”

Sasuke looked up at her as she reached into her pocket, digging around for something. After a moment, she produce a simple bracelet. It had a single dark blue stone at one end, two black stones on the other end, and the stones in between were all pure white. He stared at it for a moment before looking up at Kaisuki in confusion.

“What's this?” He asked, staring at it.

“It's a ward,” a voice he didn't really recognize as Kaisuki's spoke and he looked up, startled. Bright blue eyes. That was Khrai, he vaguely remembered. “Against possession. Since you've been possessed, and since you were possessed for so long, you'll be weak to it in the future. This bracelet will protect you.” She explained, unclasping it and holding it out for him. He hesitantly held out his wrist for her to put it on him. “The blue stone has a bit of your chakra in it, which identifies who the ward will protect. This thing will _only_ work on you, so don't even bother giving it to someone else. The black stones have demonic energy in them, which identifies what you'll be protected from. There are two of them so that you'll be guarded against stronger threats. The white stones have my chi in them, which is what will be protecting you. My chi is corrosive enough to eat through iron, and trust me when I say I've vaporized plenty of those fuckers to know that I can.”

Sasuke stared at it once she's clasped it around his wrist. It didn't feel like there was anything to it. He would've guessed that they were just marbles or something if he hadn't had been told otherwise. He couldn't imagine how something so inconspicuous could be effective in protecting him against possession.

He swallowed hard. Was she worried about him getting possessed again? Why? They'd only wanted him so they could get their hands on Itachi, and Itachi was dead. No one had any reason to come after him, right?

He was afraid to ask so he didn't. “Are... is Kaisuki ever going to come back to the village?”

Khrai didn't answer him right away, so he glanced up at her. She was staring at him, looking extremely tired all of a sudden. “Only if you call her back,” the woman replied, her voice somewhat subdued. “Only if you need her to, really.”

“ _What_?” He exclaimed rather loudly in disbelief. “No, she can't... she can't just _never_ come back unless there's an emergency, I haven't seen her in years! And...” he paused, looking down at his feet. He wasn't sure why felt ashamed. “I... I wanted to start talking to Izumi again.”

He didn't look up, even after the silence had stretched for a good thirty seconds. He didn't want to say the rest of what he was thinking. He didn't want to tell them that, if they never came back, he was definitely not going to be able to keep himself from feeling abandoned. Kaisuki was the only family he had left, even if they weren't related by blood. Itachi had left him and it had been the most miserable, lonely feeling for as long as he'd been allowed to feel it.

His eyes were stinging relentlessly. He felt like a child. Kaisuki wasn't leaving because she hated him or because she never wanted to see him again or because he'd almost killed her. She had to have her own reasons for deciding that she wouldn't go back to the village, and surely it was bigger than just the fighting between the members of Team 7.

The knowledge didn't make him feel any better at all, though.

“Sasuke,” Kaisuki's voice was back and he looked up at her, suddenly very conscious of the amount of watering his eyes were doing. She looked slightly confused, and it was at that moment that he suddenly remembered that Kaisuki had never been told that Sasuke was Izumi's mystery patient. But, it didn't seem like she was intending to ask him why he wanted to speak to Izumi. She was smart enough that she had probably put that together the instant he'd said he wanted to start speaking to Izumi “again.”

“If... if you really need me to be around, I'll come back and see you specifically, as often as I can and whenever you need me to. I don't know how often that's going to be, though. I could be gone for weeks at a time, even months. I've... been traveling a lot.” She swallowed, looking distressed. “But we'll come by, I... I promise.”

Then, in an instant, her eyes were green. Izumi looked a lot closer to tears than the rest of them. Sasuke hadn't realized how much he'd missed her until he found himself standing in front of her. He wished he still had the wherewithal to make and hold eye contact with people.

“And when we come by,” she told him, smiling sadly. She looked very upset about the whole situation, and he immediately felt bad for reacting the way he had. “We'll stay for a couple of days, okay? You and I will have a chance to talk, I promise. I'd also like you to start keeping a journal. Write in it whenever you want to, at least once a day. Even if all you write is a sentence or a paragraph.”

It sounded like she'd been thinking about it a lot, so he nodded silently. He still felt like he was being abandoned, even though he knew that it was completely unreasonable. He swallowed hard, pushing down the urge to cry.

He didn't even know what else to say. If Naruto and Sakura were being as resentful towards Kaisuki as she was saying they were, Sasuke wasn't sure if Team 7 was going to make it. He wasn't about to sit around listening to Naruto and Sakura talking trash about his adopted sister, and he wasn't going to agree with anything they said. No one had known, so there was no reason to point fingers at anyone.

 _Except me,_ He thought blackly.

He didn't want to alienate himself from his team, but he didn't want to be a part of something so resentful and dysfunctional. He'd had quite enough of the resentment and dysfunction, to be perfectly honest. If they couldn't bring themselves to either forgive Kaisuki or just never speak of her around Sasuke, he didn't know if he _wanted_ to be part of the team.

For a moment, he entertained the thought of traveling with Kaisuki. Of not going back to Konohagakure, or maybe going back for a while and then leaving to travel with her. He'd be safer if he was around Kaisuki anyway, since she was the most educated about the whole possession business. If anything happened, she'd be able to deal with it quickly.

That was a really good point, though.

“I don't know...” he began, his voice barely above a whisper, “if I would want to go back to a team that spends their days talking trash about my sister.”

He glanced up at her. She had frozen, eyes wide in shock, her eyebrows coming together slowly. “I... what are you saying, Sasuke?” She wanted to know, sounding extremely hesitant about asking.

“Maybe not right away, since I'm sure they're going to keep me under lock and key for a while,” he said bitterly. “But... once they're over it, could I... join you?”

Kaisuki didn't respond for a long time. He didn't want to look up at her again. “Sasuke...” She started and stopped, sounding uncertain, but he could hear that she was considering it, so he waited. “If you leave the village again, they might come looking for you.”

“Well, I'm not going to just disappear into the night without telling anyone,” he replied flatly. “I'd want you to... come get me... since I'm not sure I would feel safe traveling distance alone...”

Kaisuki sighed, but it didn't sound annoyed. If anything, she sounded sad. “You're right about them keeping a close eye on you for at least some months,” she said. “But... I mean, I honestly... don't know how this would work out, I'd have to... do some things, but if you...” She stopped again, running her fingers over the hitai-ate she wore on her arm. There was another long pause, as she seemed to be seriously considering the options, the implications, the possibilities and the risks.

“If you still want to join me when they lay off you a bit,” she continued in a quiet voice. “I... I'd be more than glad to come get you. I wouldn't want you to be stuck somewhere you don't want to be.”

Sasuke stared at her, wide-eyed. He hadn't actually expected to get a “yes” out of her, all things considered. He blinked back the tears that immediately welled in his eyes. “I know I will,” he replied in a subdued voice. “I'd miss you a lot more than I'd miss that whole village, to be honest.”

Kaisuki chuckled, but it sounded tired. “You think so?”

“ _Yes_.” He insisted, looking up again. She nodded, a sad smile on her face.

“Then I'll be waiting to hear from you about that,” she said. Then, after a second, she continued, “I have to go now, but I'll be in touch. I can promise you that. And, if you ever need me, you just send me a letter and I'll be on the horizon, okay?”

Sasuke nodded silently, already feeling like he was losing someone precious to him. “Thank you, Kaisuki,” he whispered. She reached over the red line and hugged him again, a gesture he immediately returned.

He wished he could just leave with her right then.

…

The only reason they knew it had been seven and a half months was because Madara occasionally went out to look at a calendar. For whatever reason, Itachi wanted to keep track of the days. The ghost could go and be back in ten minutes flat, so Itachi didn't get too anxious from his absence.

As the months went by, it seemed like the living Uchiha was growing more and more dependent on Madara's company. He got terrible separation anxiety when Madara was gone for more than an hour. The dead Uchiha been gone for a week when Sasuke had first come back from the psych ward, because Itachi had asked him to see how his younger sibling was faring, how his mental health was, if he was still having nightmares, how he was being reintroduced to the village and his team and life as a shinobi, if they were even going to let Sasuke continue to _be_ a shinobi, and a bunch of other things.

When he'd returned, Itachi had been a nervous wreck. It had looked like he was thinking that his ghostly companion would never come back, like he'd lost track of the days and thought that a lot more than a week had gone by. He wouldn't tell Madara why he had become so upset from the prolonged solitude ( _it wasn't like Itachi had never been left completely alone for a while_ ), wouldn't tell him what had been going through his head, nothing. He had just asked Madara in a very quiet voice: _"Please don't leave for that long again."_

Even though _Itachi_ had been the one to tell him to go for at least a week.

Madara sighed softly, his hands on Itachi's right shoulder and elbow. He was icing them in rotation with basically every other part of the kid's body. It was the only way he could help, and it numbed the worst of the pain.

He looked down at his living companion, counting the bruises and burns and cuts and fractures and dislocations and things he couldn't fix. Itachi's left hip and femoral head were either fractured or shattered (it was hard to tell), several of his ribs were broken _again_ , and his knee had had a kunai all the way through it at one point recently. They had driven a series of screws and nails all over both of his forearms and thighs, his cheekbone looked to be cracked, and he had a killer black eye. The bruising around his throat had not improved and his breathing had begun to take on a raspy, wet sound over the past several days, and within the last twenty-four hours it had started to sound like actual pneumonia. Or Inflammatory Lung Syndrome.

 _Don't even_ _ **think**_ _that, Madara_ , he snarled at himself internally.

It'd been seven and a half months – the longest period Itachi had _ever_ been detained for – and the kid hadn't uttered a word to anyone but Madara, and only when the two of them were alone. The interrogation team had tried _everything_ and then some. It had gotten to the point that the ghost couldn't bring himself to follow Itachi to the basement anymore. That had stopped a couple of months ago. He instead waited, heart in his throat and palms sweaty, until they brought Itachi back.

He'd seen the betrayal in the kid's eyes for the first time or two or five that Madara didn't go with him, but it seemed that current circumstances had turned Itachi into a very forgiving person. Besides, Madara was reasonably certain that, without the company, his living companion would certainly have broken by now. Itachi wouldn't talk because he had someone to remind him constantly why he wasn't talking, why he was still alive and acting.

_"You're doing this for Sasuke, remember?"_

Often enough, Itachi would have a breakdown in response to that reminder, miserably and _loudly_ asking for someone to take pity on him and just kill him. It seemed like he was regretting his decision to save his little brother every day, or his decision to not have committed suicide sooner, his decision to let his ghostly companion keep him alive. Madara, naturally, did not have patience for that, and they had a tendency to dissolve into rather one-sided fighting that would eventually result in some kind of extremely vindictive reaction from the dead Uchiha.

_"Stop! Stop it, please, it hurts, Madara,_ _**please** _ _...!"_

He stared at a pocket of spiderwebs in the corner of the room. He didn't feel bad, even though he was pretty sure he ought to by the standards of normal, living people. Even though physically attacking his companion was a far cry from a productive way to handle an argument. He didn't expect anyone to understand why he reacted so _violently_ when Itachi started talking about wanting to die, or about how much he was looking forward to his own mortality, or anything along those lines.

Madara didn't know anyone else in the world who'd been trapped _alone_ for over a hundred years, with no means of escaping that raw loneliness, so he didn't expect anyone to be able to comprehend just how important Itachi's life was to him.

He refused to just let the kid give up his life for _anyone_. If Itachi wanted to fake his death and pretend to be dead for the rest of eternity, so be it. He just wasn't allowed to _actually_ die. Madara had possessed the kid in the instant of his death, after he'd collapsed in front of Sasuke, specifically to force his heart to keep beating, to make his blood-filled lungs function, to treat all his wounds and to walk him across an ocean to Tsukigakure to get a cure for his illness. As Izumi had suspected, Tsuki no Kuni had advanced incredibly far in medicine.

Madara had every intention of keeping Itachi alive - whether he wanted to be or not - for as long as possible. Itachi didn't seem to understand that, as he kept trying to get himself killed. So, naturally, Madara had to keep trying to explain it to him.

He looked down at his companion again when he inhaled sharply and then slowly opened his eyes. " _How are you this fine morning?_ " Madara asked, pulling his hands away from Itachi's shoulder and elbow. The living Uchiha turned his tired gaze towards his ghostly roommate for a few seconds before he looked back towards the ceiling.

His black eyes were duller than Madara had ever seen them. The kid really was fading, _wasting_ away slowly. He had already been having difficulty making himself eat (which Madara didn't blame him for, given the "fine dining" they offered at the prison), but that problem had recently started to get worse. Now Itachi was regularly refusing meals, and it didn't seem to matter what Madara said or did to him.

_Well, I guess I wouldn't be hungry if I was in this much pain either._

“I'm tired,” Itachi whispered hoarsely in reply. Madara brushed his companion's hair behind his ear for him. The living Uchiha closed his eyes again, eyebrows coming together in a pained expression. “Everything hurts.”

“ _I would think so_ ,” Madara said. “ _Considering how much of you is..._ ”

There was a loud, distinct screech of metal that made Madara flinch, and voices floated down to the hall.

“... and his left femur and hip both were both broken and I want that fixed. It's inconvenient if he can't stand on his own.” That was the Wolf.

“How broken?” That was Sakura, the irou-nin in charge of taking care of Itachi. Sasuke's teammate. She was the only person who had been willing to be Itachi's prison doctor, and Madara was reasonably certain that the only reason she had volunteered was because she got some kind of vindictive pleasure out of seeing what ANBU's interrogation team had wrought upon the man who had thoroughly wrecked her biggest crush's mental health.

He hated her, even though she was keeping Itachi alive.

“Probably shattered.” The Wolf replied as they stepped up to the door. Itachi didn't even pretend that he was going to get up for them. He couldn't. “And I want you to listen to his lungs. It sounds like he's developing pneumonia.”

Sakura was scowling as the Wolf opened the cell door. The two of them walked in together, with the interrogator standing back to let Sakura do her job. She looked over at Itachi, gaze hardening further, and crossed the room silently. Madara pointlessly moved to the end of the bed, where he could crouch by Itachi's head.

The young irou-nin knelt down beside the bed, her hand beginning to glow with irou-ninjutsu as she examined the state of his hip. Itachi was watching her with an expression schooled to blankness. After a moment, she sighed.

“What?” The Wolf immediately demanded, sounding vaguely impatient. Sakura pointedly didn't answer him. They didn't like each other. That had been made very clear within minutes of the day he'd brought Sakura to treat Itachi for the first time.

“ _If you don't mind, I'll do the assessment of his injuries myself. You're_ _ **clearly**_ _not an irou-nin, so just stay out of my way.”_

Madara was sure Sakura's blatant dislike and disrespect towards ANBU had something to do with the fact that they had been fully prepared to kill Sasuke after Itachi had stopped his rampage. Madara was sort of hoping they'd kill each other so he wouldn't have to.

“ _Haruno_ ,” Wolf ground out.

“Be _quiet_ ,” she snapped, turning around to face him and blatantly dropping her hand on Itachi's partially-healed hip, “You said 'listen to his lungs,' which is easier when _no one_ is talking.”

The Wolf was very clearly glaring at her, even if Madara couldn't see his face. “You should really learn your place, brat.”

Sakura threw him the _nastiest_ glare Madara had ever seen on a girl her age and returned to her task of repairing Itachi's injuries. The ghost turned his gaze on his companion, who's face was ashen and his expression pained. Even if the young irou-nin was healing the damage, the amount of inflammation had made even the lightest sensation excruciating until the injury was completely repaired.

And the fact of the matter was that Sakura had just dropped her hand on Itachi's hip without a second thought.

“ _You're a_ _ **bitch**_ ,” he stated darkly. “ _And I don't blame Wolf for not liking you._ ”

Itachi himself hadn't uttered a sound, but he never did. Sakura finished up on his hip a few minutes later, adjusting the way she was kneeling. “I need you to sit up,” she stated frostily. There was a pause that lasted about four seconds before Itachi used his left arm to force himself upright, his teeth grinding together in much the same way his ribs probably were.

“Did it occur to you that maybe there's fluid in his lungs because you keep breaking half his ribcage?” Sakura deadpanned, turning to look over her shoulder at the Wolf, who didn't answer her. She made a show of rolling her eyes before she turned back to face Itachi. She placed her hands on either side of his ribs and they began to glow again. It took her a solid ten minutes to heal all of the breaks and cracks, and once she was done she pulled her stethoscope off her neck.

“Deep breath,” she commanded a moment later. As Itachi was taking the deepest breath he could, Madara immediately noticed that the kid's lung capacity had been noticeably reduced. “Again... again...” there was a pause and Madara watched Sakura's eyebrows come together. “One more time,” at that point she sounded less irritable and more concentrated.

“ _Oh_ _ **please**_ _, no_ ,” the ghost said, sucking in a nervous breath.

She put the stethoscope away and planted her hands on his chest again. “What is it?” The Wolf asked, obviously beginning to lose patience with his hired help.

“There's an awful lot of scar tissue in his lungs,” Sakura stated offhandedly. “Don't usually see this much outside of Blood Lung patients... but he clearly doesn't have that, or he would've started spitting blood a lot sooner than now.”

Madara let out a relieved breath ( _okay, it's just the scar tissue, no problem_ ) and looked over at Itachi, who was observing the interactions carefully, but keeping his head somewhat lowered and pointedly not making eye contact with anyone. He was very clearly analyzing Wolf's reactions, his vocal tone, his sparing movement, everything. Even in his seriously injured and somewhat sickened state, Itachi knew better than to pass up the opportunity to learn as much about his surroundings and its inhabitants as possible.

Every bit the well-trained Black Ops turned Akatsuki member he was taught to be.

“Is that why his breathing is rattling?” Wolf asked after a pause.

“ _No,_ ” the irou-nin sighed loudly. “The rattling is from the pneumonia he's developing. It's going to be at least three days, probably four, before you can resume.” She stood up, brushing off her knees and turning to face him. “I have to go and get a few things if I'm going to prevent this from killing him.”

Wolf was very still for a moment. Madara had a feeling he was fuming, as though the fact that Itachi had been neglected so carelessly that he was getting _sick_ was somehow somebody else's fault. He glowered at the interrogator, even though he knew that no one could see him.

“ _Fuck_ _ **you**_ _, Wolf_ ,” he muttered under his breath, irritated. “ _I completely understand why Sakura doesn't like you._ ”

“Fine,” Wolf finally replied. “You'll come back tonight, then, at-...”

Sakura snapped in an instant, her fists clenching as she cut him off extremely rudely. “I don't take orders from you _or_ ANBU, for the record. I'll come back when I come back, and if you have a problem with my timing, you can have fun finding a new irou-nin to take care of _him_.” She spat in a fury, gesturing at her patient. “I have _no_ obligation to you, especially after you threatened my teammate's life, in case you forgot about that. If you don't want to lose your valuable asset to disease or injury, I suggest you try to remember just how little I owe you.”

Without another word to him or anyone else, Sakura stalked out of the cell. Around halfway down the hall, she started cursing loudly, angrily, very clearly at Wolf. The ANBU interrogator watched her go from his spot next to the door that had been left open. Madara raised his eyebrows.

“ _Wow,_ ” he remarked in moderate disbelief. “ _Never saw_ _ **that**_ _coming._ ”

The Wolf turned his attention back to Itachi, who returned his gaze for a few seconds before looking down at his knees. The interrogator stared at him for a moment before he left the cell, pulling the door shut harshly behind him. It slammed _incredibly_ loudly, and as soon as he was gone Itachi slowly laid himself back down. He was clearly still in a lot of pain – Sakura hadn't done anything about his ruined arm or his knee or much of anything else. The Wolf had probably explicitly told her not to.

_And you're wondering why Itachi's gotten sick, you stupid..._

Once he was laying down, Itachi became very still, his eyebrows knit together and his eyes closed. Sitting up, laying down... really, moving in general was painful for the kid. Every time he shifted, the pain in his everything flared up horribly, so Madara did his best to arrange matters so that Itachi had to get up as little as possible.

“ _Are you okay?_ ” Madara asked, knowing it was a stupid question. He stood up and walked back to the side of the bed, sitting down on the edge of it.

Itachi didn't respond right away, but after a moment he opened his watering eyes to stare up at the ceiling. “It hurts,” he whispered, taking in a shuddering, rattling breath. Madara frowned at him.

“ _You maybe shouldn't be laying down, though,_ ” the ghost said softly as he reached over and gingerly placed his hand on Itachi's shoulder and elbow again.The living Uchiha made a thin sound of either relief or discomfort, but didn't tell his companion to stop. “ _Since, you know... pneumonia and all._ ”

Itachi closed his eyes again, his lower lip beginning to tremble. “Or I could just drown in my sleep,” he muttered blackly.

The dead Uchiha stared at him, an immediate flare of anger rising up. “ _Or you could_ _ **not**_ _drown in your sleep._ ” He retorted darkly.

_You're not_ _**allowed** _ _to die._

He got a soft, miserable sigh in response, but that was it. He glared at his companion heatedly for a moment before he turned his attention to the swelling he was trying to somewhat remedy. He wished that Itachi could understand why he was so hellbent on keeping him alive. He wished he could explain in words how agonizing it was to be so alone. He wished he could persuade the kid to think about someone other than himself when it came to his mortality.

Itachi just wanted to die. He'd been wanting to die since he was thirteen, since he'd massacred his family. He'd been wanting to die for almost a decade, and apparently it had never crossed his mind how horrible that would be for Madara. Apparently, the fact that Madara had no one else to go to had never been a factor.

Konohagakure's prized prisoner cleared his throat wetly and coughed harshly, which only seemed to aggravate his arm more. “You can't...” he said in a strained voice. “You can't _possibly_ still be trying to tell me... that living like _this_ would be better than-...”

“ _I never said that dying wouldn't be better_ ,” Madara interrupted angrily. “ _I just said you weren't allowed to_.”

Itachi asked, his voice still quiet. “Why is it that _I_ have to suffer so _you_ don't have to be lonely?”

_You don't get it. You just_ _**don't get it** _ _._

He was beginning to wonder if Itachi was _trying_ to get Madara to kill him in a fit of rage. How many times were they going to discuss the kid's mortality? How many times were they going to get into a fight over it? How many times was Madara going to have to twist broken fingers before Itachi got it through his head that nothing he said was going to change the ghost's mind about forcing him to live?

“ _Because I said so,_ ” was his frosty reply as he abruptly gripped Itachi's injured shoulder with rather significant pressure. Itachi's other hand immediately came up as he let out a gasp, trying to pry Madara's hand off his bruised and swollen shoulder. “ _How many times are we going to have this argument before you get it through your thick skull that I'm not going to let you die on me_?”

“Madara, that _hurts,_ ” Itachi forced out, his black eyes beginning to water. Without thinking, Madara dug his thumb in, eliciting a sharp cry that was quickly followed by a slew of curses. The ghost let go, pulling away from Itachi completely. The living Uchiha lay there, gasping and shaking and still swearing.

“ _Eventually, you're going to learn not to be so suicidal,_ ” Madara snarled at him, standing up off the bed. “ _Anyway, I'm going to go check the calendar and see how Sasuke's doing. I'll be back soon._ ”

The look Itachi gave him at that moment was nothing short of despaired and horrified, but Madara pointedly ignored him and turned away, walking through the closed cell door. He wouldn't be gone too long, probably just an hour or two or three. Itachi had mentioned wanting to know how Sasuke was doing a few hours ago, and Madara had agreed to go check on him later. So, he was doing what he said he would do.

Itachi could deal with it. The longer he spent trapped in loneliness, the more possible it would be for Madara to make him understand why he wasn't allowed to die.

 


	13. desperate times

Kisame had genuinely thought that he would never see her again after the last time he'd encountered her, when she'd been after Itachi.

“Where is Uchiha Itachi?” Sumi demanded to know, the tendrils of shadows that seemed to follow her around twisting and curling threateningly. Kisame clenched his jaw. She knew that Itachi was alive. She was probably going to try to kill him again.

“Itachi's dead,” he replied coolly. “And here I thought the news would've gotten to you by now.”

Sumi's delicate, clawed fingers splayed, irritation showing clear on her face. “I know he's alive. He killed Eirun to save his _precious_ little brother,” she spat venomously.

“Who the fuck is Eirun?” Khrai's vocal tone was unmistakeable, but she sounded tense. Kisame didn't look over at her, just filed the information in the back of his head for later. “For the record, _your majesty_ ,” the blue-eyed spirit ground out. Sumi visibly stiffened, her expression shifting to a murderous glare. “We were there, and Itachi definitely wasn't, since, y'know, he's _dead_ and all.”

Sumi looked like she was about to butcher them alive for a moment before a malicious smile spread across her face. “Teara gave him that red kunai,” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Where did _you_ think he got it from?”

Kisame halted at that. “Why would _Teara_ give _Itachi_ a kunai to aide him in saving _Sasuke_? Do you even hear yourself right now?” He replied in feigned bewilderment. He definitely needed to know more about _this._

The pallid girl shook her head in disbelief, shoulders shaking with restrained laughter. “You're... _incredibly_ naive, perhaps _stupid_ , if you think I don't see through your _bullshit_.” Her tone changed in an instant, into more a snarl. “I didn't come here to play catch up. Tell me where that special little _insect_ is, or I'll _make_ you.”

Kisame raised his eyebrows, feeling somewhat offended. “ _Make_ us? I'm sorry, but what makes you think for even a second that either of us is weak-willed enough to give in to a toddler like yourself?”

“Do not disrespect me,” Sumi's clawed hands clenched into fists, her shadowy tendrils moving more violently and sporadically, her irritation clear as day. “I'll show you who the _toddler_ is,” she growled.

Kisame was about to say something to Khrai when one of the tendrils of ink-black energy reared back and then struck the ground like a whip, so hard that it smashed through the earth, sending an impressive ripple through the ground and tearing up a lot of the terrain. Kisame and Khrai both dodged in opposite directions. Kisame didn't know which way Khrai would go, but he didn't worry about it. He could trust them to take care of themselves.

He leaped off into the trees and started to loop around behind Sumi. He had no intention of trying to fight her. He already knew he couldn't kill her, so there was really no point in even making the attempt. Instead, he'd get around her, get back to Khrai, and then the two of them could disappear into the night.

The shadows were moving all around him. It was bizarre and stressful. None of them seemed to be malevolent, but the fact that the darkness itself was shifting and twisting around the flora as he passed it was actually pretty nerve-wracking. Sumi was _powerful_. He'd never met any other demonic entities, but he recognized raw power when he saw it, even if he couldn't _sense_ it.

The air was filled with a feeling of darkness, of pure evil. It was cold and uncomfortable to breathe, but he couldn't sense the chakra that he knew had to be permeating the air thoroughly. He knew that Sumi's chakra could fill up a few miles worth of space, but he himself couldn't sense it. It was extremely inconvenient.

He was coming back from looping behind Sumi when he suddenly felt Saeka's chakra fill the air. The temperature began to rise almost immediately – something he'd come to associate with the youngest spirit engaging in battle. However, a split second later, the strong feeling from her chakra abruptly dissipated. Two seconds later, it was back, even stronger than before. It did that a couple times and Kisame's stomach dropped.

The pattern was off, suggesting that the spirit either might not be remembering it clearly or was injured, but that was definitely an attempt at Akatsuki's distress call. He picked out the location and headed towards it, only really needing to adjust his course a small amount, and took off as fast as he could.

He flared his chakra a few times. If she was able to move, she'd be able to follow his chakra and find him and _then_ they could make a speedy getaway.

Saeka's chakra source started moving towards him, but within seconds her powerful energies started fluctuating wildly, dipping to dangerously low and then spiking higher than he'd thought was possible. The temperature was rising rapidly around him, to the point that he was getting extremely hot from running towards the source of that heat.

Suddenly, a loud, anguished _scream_ sounded through the woods, and he immediately identified the voice as Saeka's. His heart jumped into his throat. He knew he wasn't far away. He'd be able to see her in a moment. He knew that not only because of how clearly he could hear her, but also because of how uncomfortably hot it had gotten.

He spotted Saeka a few seconds later, one taloned hand staunching a bleeding wound in her side while the other was pressed hard over her ear, sitting on her knees on the ground and hunched over somewhat. Her screams had shifted into anguished wails and her hot pink eyes were wide and unseeing. He dropped to the ground in front of her, ignoring the fact that the flora around them was starting to smoke.

“Saeka!” He called loudly, helplessly, looking around in every direction. He didn't know where Sumi had gone, but he couldn't imagine that she was very far. “Saeka, can you hear me?”

Saeka's screams and wails had quietened. Instead, she was taking in heaving gasps, sounding as though she couldn't breathe. There was a wound in her side that was bleeding profusely, and he could see the liquid steaming and _boiling_ off her skin.

A moment later, she began to sag, and Kisame caught her without thinking about it. He almost _dropped_ her immediately once he felt how warm her skin was. Kisame couldn't imagine how she hadn't died or killed Kaisuki from heat stroke yet. She may as well have been made of red-hot metal. It felt like his skin and his clothes were being singed just from touching her.

_How the hell could your chakra be_ _**this** _ _hot?_

“Saeka,” he called, glancing around with his heart hammering away in his throat. She seemed to be more than just injured, if the screaming and the ear-clutching was any indication. “Saeka, if you're conscious enough to, I need you to switch out with Kaisuki. I know you're all probably in a lot of pain, but your chakra is _too_ strong, we'll never be able to hide if you're in the front.”

There was no reply for a long, long moment. He wound up adjusting his hold on her so that he could more easily scoop her into his arms and sprint if necessary at any given moment. After a long minute or two, Saeka eventually whimpered quietly, her breathing unsteady and shallow. “K-Kisa... me?” The youngest spirit managed to whisper hoarsely.

“Yea, I'm here,” he replied quietly. “Did you hear what I said?”

Saeka swallowed hard, pressing her hand harder against her side and nodding just slightly. “I... I can...” she whispered softly, and a second later the feeling of her chakra all but disappeared. He blinked, startled. What had she just done? “K-Kaisuki can't... handle this pain... so I-... I can't...” He'd never seen Saeka in such a state. Granted, he hadn't seen her much at all, but the fact that she was so clearly in _agony_ made him want to slaughter Sumi even more than he already did.

_You are hellbent on taking_ _**someone** _ _from me, aren't you, Sumi?_

He clicked his tongue, looking around briefly before he scooped up Saeka into his arms and stood up. She was _so small_ in his arms – so much smaller than Itachi, than Kaisuki, than pretty much anyone Kisame had ever carried. She looked and felt so fragile, he would never have guessed how powerful she was if he had never witnessed her frightening speed and overwhelming chakra himself.

He scowled as he took to the trees, breaking into a sprint right away. He needed to hide them quickly and thoroughly. He could feel warm blood seeping through his clothes from the wound in the Yurei's side and the feeling of it was making him somewhat nauseous. He could clearly smell the blood itself alongside a distinct odor of of rotten eggs. _That_ couldn't be good.

He slowed to a stop, looking around at his surroundings suspiciously. The shadows weren't moving and the air had settled down. It seemed like Sumi had probably gone back to wherever she'd come from, so he could take a few minutes and tend to Kaisuki... well, Saeka.

He set the girl down on the forest floor carefully. Saeka's already pallid skin was whiter than white, her face drawn with pain. When Kisame looked down at her wound, he noted that it seemed like the blood spilling out of her injury was streaking black. His stomach plummeted. That _definitely_ couldn't be good.

Kisame held his hand over the wound, summoning what little irou-ninjutsu he knew and spilling his chakra into the wound. Within seconds, he could tell that, for whatever reason, it wasn't working. The blood flow hadn't slowed at all. If it had, it was probably because of normal clotting, and not anything to do with irou-ninjutsu.

He swore colorfully, but quietly, and pulled out a scroll from the depths of his cloak. He summoned the medical supplies that had been sealed in it, and a moment later he was plastering gauze pad after gauze pad after gauze pad after gauze pad to try and staunch the bleeding, appyling pressure the whole time as he continued to add new pads and removed blood-soaked ones. It was beginning to seem like Kaisuki was just going to bleed out on him when he noticed that the gauze pads were being soaked progressively slower as he continued to add and remove them.

He frowned, confused, continuing to keep pressure on the wound. His heart was hammering in his throat, and he was still trying to spill irou-ninjutsu into the wound to aide with the clotting process. If it _was_ helping, it was only minimally, but he was assuming that it was helping and so he didn't stop. The bleeding seeming to be slowing, but it was hard to tell when he had his hands pressed over the wound.

“C'mon, ladies,” he called quietly, beginning to feel somewhat ill. _One_ of them _had_ to be able to hear him, so why weren't they replying? Khrai was an incredibly... an _impossibly_ powerful woman, why wasn't _she_ responding? Could she not handle the pain either? Or was Kaisuki fading, _dying_ and that was why none of them were replying? “Don't die on me, _please_...”

Saeka's breathing was becoming raspy – closer to wheezing. He didn't know what to do. Irou-ninjutsu wasn't helping, and he wasn't sure how much pain they'd be able to withstand before they died of heart failure or whatever happened when a person died from sheer agony. Was that even something that happened? Or did he only really have to worry about the blood loss? No, he knew that shock could kill a person, but what could he do about shock? What could he do about _anything_?

The bleeding had slowed a lot when he relinquished the pressure a bit, but it was still oozing out of the wound. He bit his tongue and looked at Saeka's ashen face. “Saeka,” he called a bit louder than he had before, _praying_ that they could hear him. “I _need_ you to switch with Kaisuki. Eventually she's going to run out of chakra, and if that happens this wound could easily kill her. _Please_ , Saeka, I need you to switch out.”

Saeka was still gasping for breath, but she opened her eyes, staring at the night sky with glassy pink eyes. She swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes shut a few times and making a thin, pained sound. “Saeka,” Kisame repeated for the seemingly hundredth time. “Can you hear me?”

She swallowed again. “Y-yea,” she whispered softly. “I-I'm s-sorry, I... Kaisuki's...”

“Saeka, I understand that Kaisuki's in a world of pain,” he said urgently. “But she's a thousand times more likely to _die_ if she runs out of chakra. I'll take care of her, don't worry. She'll be fine, just _please_ switch with her.”

Saeka's eyes were watering. She looked helpless and miserable and agonized, and the expression on her face was making Kisame feel nauseous. “I-... she's...”

“Saeka, _please_ ,” Kisame pleaded. After a moment, the small girl nodded stiffly, her breathing uneven and labored. A bright red swirl of burning hot chakra surrounded her, swirling around her for a moment before it dissipated into nothing. Kaisuki was laying there then, and Kisame immediately noticed how gray her skin was, how saturated with a cold sweat she was. Her mouth was open as she gasped for air, wheezing and seemingly trying to breathe without moving her abdomen at all. She was shaking all over, and she was _clearly_ in a lot more pain than Saeka had been.

Or, perhaps Saeka was just used to that level of pain.

Kisame dug into his pockets for another scroll, and pulled out the one he was looking for within seconds. He unrolled it and summoned the supplies, pulling two hypodermic needles out of a sterile box and grabbing a vial of powerful painkillers and another vial of equally powerful antibiotics. Izumi had taught him a lot over the past year and half or two or however long it had been, and at that exact moment he was more thankful for her than he'd _ever_ been.

He gave Kaisuki the two shots right away. “Kaisuki,” he spoke gently but a little louder than before, hoping that he could rouse her a little. “Kaisuki, can you hear me?”

In the few seconds since he'd given her the shots, her expression had already relaxed, but she hadn't wakened at all. Kisame swallowed again. He'd have to keep up on the painkillers if he was going to keep her from succumbing to shock, or whatever would happen.

He knew how to treat injuries but he didn't have a clear understanding of things like shock and symptoms of illness and a wide variety of other things. He still had a lot to learn. He'd have to get Izumi to teach him more after Kaisuki recovered.

The first two or three layers of gauze pads had been soaked through, so Kisame pulled off all six or seven of them. “I'm going to pack this wound with gauze, okay?” He told her quickly, “Bear with me.”

She didn't reply at all, and he swallowed hard as he peeled back the gauze pads that were on the wound. It was still oozing blood and the tissue surrounding it was red and blotchy and inflamed. He quickly grabbed several still-sterile gauze pads and pressed them into the wound carefully. Kaisuki's breath quickened and she made several pained noises, but she still didn't rouse all the way. He managed to pack the wound well, and the blood didn't start seeping through it immediately, so he quickly scooped her back into his arms and stood up.

He leaped up into the trees, still nervous about his surroundings. He needed to get as far away from the area as possible, as quickly as possible.

And then he needed to find an irou-nin.

…

Within a week of returning to Konohagakure from the psych ward, Sasuke decided that he didn't like Sakura and he especially didn't like Naruto.

After two months, Sasuke decided he _really_ disliked Sakura ( _her obsession with me has gotten so much worse_ ), he _despised_ Naruto ( _he's turned into such a_ _ **bastard**_ ), and he had quickly grown to resent the place he had once called home. He wanted to get out of the village so badly, he almost couldn't stand to wait until his probation was up ( _it's just six months, just six months, just six months_ ). He had four and a half months left before he could consider himself off ANBU's “threat watch” list, and the time was _dragging_.

But at least they had been willing to let him resume his life as a shinobi. Kakashi-sensei had implied that Tsunade-sama was considering not allowing it because apparently they all thought there was a chance he could “relapse” in “times of stress or violence”, which was amazingly insulting. Because of those unfounded fears, his teammates weren't comfortable sparring with him. Every time they saw him, their eyes strayed to the bracelet Khrai had given him.

He'd been forced to explain where it had come from, and while Naruto and Sakura had seemed both skeptical about the effects of the bracelet and irate that Kaisuki had “had the nerve to show up at all”, they still latched onto the idea that it would prevent him from being possessed again. He had almost begun to wish that Kaisuki hadn't given it to him. He was glad for it, obviously, but Naruto and Sakura and actually _everyone who ever spoke to him_ knew about the bracelet, and _everyone_ always glanced at his wrist to make sure he was wearing it. _Always_.

It was insulting and infuriating and it made him want to leave more and more every time he saw it. He'd called Naruto out on it already and the blond had neither offered up a satisfactory reply nor changed his behavior.

“ _I-... I, I mean, Sasuke, I just want to make sure you're not... For fuck's sake, can you blame us for being a little paranoid? You weren't there; you don't_ _ **know**_ _what you did and almost did!”_

He scowled at the dirt road he and his team were walking along. His second mission since returning, and also his first out-of-town mission. It was strange, being out of the village. He'd been confined first by Sakura's walls for a _month_ ( _“you'll move back into your own apartment in a month, okay?”_ ), and then he'd been trapped in the village for an additional couple of weeks. He'd been hoping that being in control, being back _home_ , would give him a sense of greater freedom. Instead, he felt like he was more trapped and isolated than he'd been when he was possessed.

He glanced up to scan his surroundings. Nothing looked out of place. Naruto and Sakura were being uncharacteristically quiet, and Kakashi-sensei was being a normal amount of quiet. They were heading to some small city to investigate potential mob involvement. Something about drug and human trafficking. They were supposed to take out the grunts and, if possible, interrogate the leaders. Kakashi-sensei would handle that part, but he had already said that he was fully intending to use the opportunity to teach them interrogation tactics.

Naruto and Sakura didn't want to learn because of morals or something, but Sasuke was intelligent enough to recognize that that was information he was going to need eventually. His teammates genuinely believed themselves to be good people. They gave others the benefit of the doubt ( _with the exception of Sasuke_ ), they were compassionate, they were kind, they believed in the good in people's hearts or something like that, and overall they tried to be _good_ people.

Sasuke knew better than to think for even a second that shinobi were allowed to be good people.

“Hold up,” Kakashi-sensei's voice cut into his thoughts and Sasuke immediately stopped and looked up at his mentor. Naruto and Sakura had halted as well. Kakashi-sensei was staring out into the trees to their left, his black eye narrowed.

“What is it?” Sakura asked quietly, sounding tense.

Their instructor didn't respond right away, and when he did he sounded uneasy. “I feel something...” He muttered in an equally quiescent tone.

Naruto swallowed noisily. Kakashi-sensei didn't usually behave as though a threat were an _actual_ threat (or at least, Sasuke had never seen him do so), so for him to be as stiff and still as he was became concerning quickly. Sasuke chewed his tongue for a moment before sending a surge of chakra to his eyes and activating his Sharingan. He saw Naruto turn to glance at him, looking surprised for some reason, but he ignored the blond. He spun to tomoe in the appropriate pattern, and a moment later his eyes could see chakra signatures.

Right away, he could see a powerful but extremely well-contained source of chakra that was the color of the ocean. He blinked, watching the source carefully. It was definitely moving towards them. “There's someone coming,” he said quietly. “They're moving pretty quickly, and they have a pretty strong chakra signature.”

“How strong?” Kakashi-sensei asked immediately, reaching up and pushing his hitai-ate up.

Sasuke frowned. “Really, really strong,” he answered simply. “It's contained but it's powerful.”

Kakashi-sensei hummed, and a moment later he sucked in a surprised breath. Naruto and Sakura immediately looked at him. “What?” Naruto wanted to know immediately.

“That's definitely-...”

Before their mentor could finish, whoever it was suddenly picked up the pace _significantly_. Sasuke stiffened and reached for his chokuto immediately. His teammates were already arming themselves as well, and Kakashi-sensei hadn't finished his sentence and didn't seem inclined to.

A moment later, one Hoshigaki Kisame dropped out of the trees, white in the face and panting rather heavily.

They were all stiff with tension, but for some reason Sasuke was the one who spoke first. “You're... uh... Kisame?” He said slowly, eyebrows knitting together as he deactivated his sight of chakra. Kisame was staring at them, wide-eyed, for a long few seconds before he nodded and swallowed.

“Kaisuki's hurt _bad_ ,” he was suddenly saying, sounding panicked. “I don't know what's wrong with her, but she's not responding to irou-ninjtsu at all and-...”

“Wait, what the fuck?” Naruto suddenly cut him off, “ _Kaisuki's_ -... you're Hoshigaki Kisame, why the hell would you give a shit about Kaisuki?” He snarled angrily. “Do you think we're-...”

“ _She's not responding to irou-ninjutsu...”_

Sasuke interrupted Naruto before he could finish, “What do you mean, she's not responding to irou-ninjutsu?” He asked, eyes widening. “Who attacked her?”

Kisame hadn't taken his eyes off Sasuke for a moment, but the Uchiha noticed right away that he hadn't looked at his wrist yet. Either Kaisuki hadn't told him about the bracelet or he didn't care. Either way, Sasuke felt strangely relieved.

“Sasuke, are you seriously believing him right now?” Sakura deadpanned in complete disbelief. “Did you forget that one time he threatened to cut off Naruto's limbs? Or that fact that he was _Itachi's_ partner?”

Sasuke turned a frosty gaze upon her and she stiffened, green eyes widening somewhat. “If he's not lying, Kaisuki could die. I get that neither of _you_ care about that sort of thing, but she still matters to _me_ , so I'm willing to take that chance. You can do whatever you want, in the meantime.” He snapped angrily. Then, without sparing her or Naruto (who was staring at him with his mouth slightly open) a second glance, he turned back to Kisame.

“Where is she?” He asked urgently. “Will you take me to her?”

Kisame looked like he was ready to have a nervous breakdown, but he nodded right away. “Yea,” he replied breathlessly. “She's not far from here.”

Sasuke nodded, taking a step forward. Immediately, he felt a hand close around his wrist and he turned around to face Naruto and yanked his arm free in that instant. The blond looked distressed and angry and a variety of other things. “You can't just _go off_ with an S-rank missing-nin, Sasuke, for fuck's-... why on earth do you believe him? Are you-...”

“It doesn't matter if I believe him or not,” Sasuke snarled furiously, his voice increasing in volume rapidly. “Because my best friend could be _dying_! If you try to stop me again, I'm going to punch you right in your stupid fucking face!!”

Naruto flinched back, looking alarmed. Kakashi-sensei spoke up next, sounding uneasy. “Kisame,” he directed. “How do you know Kaisuki?”

“Look,” the swordsman began, his voice unsteady. “I get it, I'm not exactly a trustworthy person. I promise I'll explain _everything_ , but she has a really high fever and an infected stab wound in her side, okay? I _can't_ leave her unattended, she could burn out at any moment at this point.” He explained rapidly. He looked genuinely distressed, and with every passing second Sasuke was growing more and more anxious to get a move on.

Kakashi-sensei watched Kisame for a few seconds before he slowly nodded. “You know, if this is a trap, the four of us with kill you in an instant.”

Kisame's jaw was tight. “I'm no idiot, Kakashi,” he replied in a strained voice. “Honestly, if you decide to off me anyway after you fix her, I'd be understanding. Just please fix her.”

That took Sasuke by surprise, and he could tell that it caught his team off guard as well. Team 7's jounin instructor nodded at that moment, even though he'd been startled by Kisame's statement. “Then, please lead us to her.”

The swordsman nodded and turned, jumping into the trees and taking off. Sasuke didn't stop to exchange a glance with his teammates, even though he could feel at least one, probably two pairs of eyes on him.

Kisame moved quickly, but not so quickly that they couldn't maintain a safe distance without falling behind. He seemed to genuinely be in a hurry. All Sasuke could think about was what Kaisuki had said to him in the psych ward.

“ _But... I mean, I honestly... don't know how this would work out, I'd have to... do some things...”_

He hadn't understood it at the time. What could she possibly need to do to arrange for him to join her? He could deal with talking to Tsunade-sama and them (or rather, leaving a letter). He had assumed she'd been traveling alone, but if she was with Hoshigaki Kisame, he supposed it was possible that she'd been referring to needing to talk to Kisame about having Sasuke join them.

And Sakura was right, too – Kisame had been Itachi's partner. How long had Kaisuki been traveling with Akatsuki's only Swordsman of the Mist? Had she been on the move with Kisame _and_ Itachi, or had Kisame and Kaisuki met after Itachi had died? Did she even know who Kisame was? Or was that why she was traveling with him?

There were so many questions he wanted to ask. If Kaisuki _had_ traveled with both of them, he wanted to know for how long. He wanted to know if she'd found anything out about Itachi. He wanted to know if she knew that he'd been sick. He wanted to know what she'd talked to him about. He wanted to know why she'd decided to travel with them and _how_ she'd gotten Itachi and Kisame to agree. He wanted to know how she had gotten so close to Kisame that he had panicked in the face of her death.

He saw Kisame drop out of the trees a few yards ahead of them and so Sasuke did the same in the same spot, his team following him closely. As Kisame had told them, the swordsman had led them to a cave. Sasuke looked around in mild suspicion before he followed the huge man in.

Right away, he could see light from a fire further into the cave. He trailed after Kisame, standing a little to the side so he could see past him. Surely enough, as they approached, he was able to spot Kaisuki, laying on the side of the fire closest to them. Kisame stepped out of the way as Sasuke walked right up to her, feeling somewhat numbed in shock.

His best friend and adopted sister looked to be dead. If it wasn't for the rapid rise and fall of her chest, he would've assumed that was the case. Her skin was _gray_ and saturated with sweat. There was a bandage over her side and the gauze was stained red even though the bandages looked to be very fresh. He swallowed hard, deactivating his Sharingan altogether and kneeling down beside her.

He pressed a hand to her forehead. Kiasme hadn't been kidding about the fever. A moment later, Sakura was beside him, and he allowed her to gently elbow him out of the way. She was an actual irou-nin. She'd have the best idea of what to do, but if what he thought was the problem was actually the problem, he'd … _probably_ be able to handle it.

“What happened?” Kakashi-sensei asked in a subdued voice. Sasuke stood up and backed away from Sakura's work space, looking over at the rest of his company.

Kisame stared at Kaisuki stonily for a long moment. “To fully explain this story,” he began heavily, “I need to tell you the _whole_ story, which takes us back about a year ago, I think.”

Sasuke blinked, startled. A year ago was around the time he'd... defeated Itachi. “Itachi-san and I were sent on an escort mission,” the swordsman began his story. “We'd already established that Kaisuki wouldn't accompany us on any missions, so she took off to go tail Teara – who was apparently tailing Itachi-san – and we headed out to Keishi.”

“Wait, _what_?” Naruto cut in, sounding horrified. “She was traveling with you _and_ Itachi? For how fucking long! _?_ ”

“Two years? Give or take a few months,” Kisame told him after he'd finished staring at the blond in mild irritation. “She kind of forced Itachi's hand by appealing to me. Itachi-san's extremely sick – Izumi called it Inflammtory Lung Syndrome. I gather there was an epidemic in Tsuki no Kuni when she was around, so she's actually the only person on this continent who can effectively stop that disease in it's tracks. Itachi-san was against bringing her, I basically told him to deal with it.”

He halted after that very brief explanation, “ _Anyway_ ,” he cleared his throat. “Itachi-san and I went to Keishi and picked up a girl that I gather all of you know almost as well as I do,” he said cryptically. Sasuke felt his stomach tighten into a knot. “Yukimura Sumi.”

At that, they all froze. Kakashi-sensei was the one who remembered how to use his voice first. “Sumi?” He said in disbelief, “Was she after one of you?”

“She was after Itachi-san.” Kisame said darkly, turning to gaze at Kaisuki's sickly, motionless form. “I gather Saeka picked up on a cloud of demonic energy, so they headed back a couple hours after they'd left. She said it took them three hours to find us.” He paused, sighing. “I was out for some reason, but Khrai woke me up and then we had to go find Itachi-san-...”

“Where was Itachi?” Sasuke wanted to know, watching the blue-haired man carefully.

Kisame glanced at him. “Itachi-san likes to take walks in the middle of the night, because he has a lot of trouble sleeping...”

“I bet,” Sasuke barely heard what Naruto whispered, and he threw the blond a nasty glare. Naruto looked affronted, but he didn't say anything. When the Uchiha looked back at Kisame, the man was staring at Naruto like he wanted to peel the skin off his face.

After a few seconds, though, he turned back to Sasuke. “Your brother didn't sleep much, to say the least,” Kisame continued as though he hadn't been interrupted and infuriated. “We tracked him down, and I gather he had been trying to fight Sumi off but she's a lot harder to kill than she looks.”

“Yea,” Kakashi-sensei agreed. “She is extremely hard to kill.”

Kisame nodded, “Itachi-san said he put a kunai through her throat and she responded by breaking his arm, or something like that,” he said. “By the time we got there, I gather Sumi had ripped up Itachi-san's lungs from the inside somehow, and he'd drowned.”

Sasuke blanched. “He... drowned?” He felt nauseous.

_He was sobbing uncontrollably. Itachi wouldn't move, wouldn't breathe, wouldn't_ _**live** _ _, oh my god if I hadn't been on that dock if I hadn't been on that dock if I hadn't been on that dock..._

_The lake swallowed him up, and as his body spasmed in pain from the water he was inhaling, Sasuke wondered if he actually wanted to die or not._

Another nod. “Izumi had to use my chakra to heal him fast enough so she'd have time to get him breathing again before he went brain dead.”

Sasuke stared at Kisame with wide, wide eyes. “Izumi saved him?”

“Yea,” Kisame replied. “They really liked each other, even though Itachi-san would never admit it and is the worst patient in history.” He smiled slightly, ruefully.

Naruto blinked, but Kakashi-sensei was the one who asked. “Itachi's a bad patient, hm?”

“The worst,” Kisame replied, shaking his head. “He'll trek on for _miles_ with a high fever and then collapse in the middle of battle and _I_ would have to carry his stupid ass to safety and nurse him back to health for a week.”

At that, Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle. That hadn't changed at all. In fact, it sounded like it'd gotten worse. Itachi had always been the type to essentially abuse and neglect himself in favor of dealing with problems and crises and missions and tasks. He was usually the first to be volunteered for and to volunteer himself for missions that had a high risk of death, capture, or otherwise failure.

Kisame was watching him, but he didn't say anything. “So, I take it Kaisuki's given you the demon talk?” Kakashi-sensei asked absentmindedly.

The swordsman snorted. “Ha, yea. I know more than you at this point, I'm pretty sure.”

Naruto glared at him. “You think so?” He asked agitatedly. Kisame raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes,” came the easy, unspecific reply. The blond jinchuriki opened his mouth to say something, but Kakashi-sensei interrupted him before he could even start.

“So, what happened today, then?”

Kisame sighed heavily. “Sumi apparently heard that Itachi-san's not dead,” he stated. Sasuke froze and looked up, alarmed. “She's looking for him, probably to try to kill him again..

“Wait, _what_?” Sasuke interjected a little louder than he'd meant to. Kisame turned to him, looking a little surprised by his sudden outburst. “Itachi's-... Itachi's _dead_ , I… that's what everyone's been telling me...” he trailed off, suddenly wondering why he would have trusted any of their word. Dr. Kuseno might not have known if Itachi was alive, but once he'd come back and seen his team and his village, he supposed he shouldn't have put any measure of trust in any of them.

He felt sick. There was no way they would have kept something like that from him, right? That was too huge a secret, there was too much of a possibility that someone could spill the beans. They wouldn't _lie_ to him about Itachi being alive. _Please tell me you didn't lie about that,_ _ **please**_ _._

Kisame was staring at him with a very still expression on his face. Then, he slowly turned to look at Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. Naruto's gaze was on the ground, his one hand rubbing the elbow of the opposite arm. Sasuke had _never_ seen him exhibit so much guilty body language before. Kakashi-sensei was returning Kisame's gaze evenly, a hollow kind of exhaustion reflecting in his one black eye. Sasuke had noticed that his mentor had seemed emotionally and physically _drained_ beyond his wildest imagination, but at that moment he seemed so much tireder.

He glanced down at Sakura, but he couldn't see her face. Then, Kisame spoke and attracted his attention.

“You didn't tell him,” the huge man deadpanned stonily, directing his question at Kakashi-sensei. For some reason, Sasuke almost wanted to defend his jounin instructor, but he didn't know why and he didn't know how he could.

Naruto spoke up then, though, sounding indignant. “You-... you couldn't _possibly_ get it,” he replied hotly once he had figured out his counter-argument. “You weren't there, you didn't see what all happened, and you don't know Sasuke-...”

“I may not know any of that,” Kisame cut him off, his voice taking on a dark, venomous undertone. He was _furious_ and Sasuke wasn't even sure why. “But I happen to know right from wrong. What kind of justification did you pull out of your ass so you wouldn't have to feel bad about lying to your teammate about his brother being alive? What is _wrong_ with you people? I would've thought the S-rank missing-nin from Kirigakure would be the one with the skewed morals, but clearly Konohagakure's finest takes the cake on that one.”

Kakashi-sensei didn't speak. He didn't seem like he wanted to defend any of them. Sasuke had gotten the impression that the jounin had been more or less against everything that had been decided for Sasuke since before he'd returned. He'd been against forcing the Uchiha to live with Sakura for four weeks, he'd been against not allowing Sasuke to resume his duties as a shinobi for six weeks, and he'd been _extremely_ against putting him on ANBU's threat watch at all, to name a few. Sasuke wondered then if he'd also been against hiding Itachi's continued life from him.

“Where... do you know where he is?” Sasuke asked quietly. He felt like he was drowning. His lungs felt tight. All he could think of was what he'd been told by that Akatsuki member with the mask...

“ _Itachi gave up his life, your_ _ **whole**_ _**family's**_ _lives, specifically to protect_ _ **you**_ _, Sasuke.”_

He felt sick and his heart was beating thunderously in his throat.

“It doesn't-...”

“He's in prison in Konohagakure,” Kisame blatantly cut Naruto off before he could finish. The blond stared at the huge man, his blue eyes bright with fury and horror. What was he so afraid of? “He turned himself in after he killed that demon that was in you, Sasuke.”

Sasuke stared at Kisame with wide eyes. Itachi was in prison? Itachi was the one who _saved_ him from that possession? _!_ And no one had thought that he might want to know about that? His chest tightened further, until he almost couldn't breathe. How could they hide that from him? Kisame was right: what _was_ wrong with all of them?

“Sasuke,” Naruto turned to his teammate, sounding almost panicked. “I-... we didn't want to tell you because we were... we were worried that... that...”

Sasuke rounded on Naruto in an instant, hurt and _rage_ boiling over in an instant. “Worried that _what_ , Naruto? Worried that I was going to snap if I heard he was alive and slaughter everyone in the village trying to get to him? Do you really think I'm... I'm that...” He stopped as his throat closed up around the word _unstable_ , eyes burning as he clenched his fists tightly. He wanted to throw up and he wanted to break their faces.

He hadn't felt so insulted, so _hurt,_ in such a long time. Did they really trust him that little? Did they really believe that he was _that_ dangerous? Why the hell did they let him back into the village if they were going to treat him like a time bomb? If they were so worried, they should've just excommunicated him and never looked back. He wouldn't have minded. He could've just traveled with Kaisuki. He could've gone off and done whatever he wanted without feeling like he was being forcefully anchored to a place he couldn't call home anymore.

“What is _wrong_ with all of you!?” He half-shouted, his eyes welling with tears that didn't fall. “You brought me back there because you wanted me to come home, and yet it seems like you'd prefer it if I hadn't!!”

Naruto's mouth opened and closed several times, but he couldn't find anything to say. He could hear Sakura sniffling next to him but he pointedly ignored her. Kakashi-sensei was still attentively listening to the individuals who were talking at any point in time, but he wasn't speaking. Naruto turned to their jounin instructor, looking helpless.

Kakashi-sensei stared at him with a dull eye. “Don't look at me, Naruto,” he said bluntly. “I was the other person who wanted to tell him, remember?”

Naruto looked stricken, panicked. Sasuke turned to their jounin instructor, eyebrows coming together as he struggled to hold back tears. “Who else was there?” He asked, hating the way his voice shook. “I guess, who else in that shitty _fucking_ village can I trust?”

Kakashi-sensei watched him for a moment, before he replied. “Kaisuki,” he replied softly. “She almost got into a fight with Naruto and Sakura about it in the Hokage's office.”

Sasuke stared at the silver-haired man, chest heaving. He was so done. He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave that village and _never_ look back. He wanted to get on the road with Kaisuki and apparently Kisame and spend his days _free_ of other peoples' paranoia.

_I want to talk to Itachi._

He opened his mouth to ask Kakashi-sensei where he could find his brother, exactly, but Sakura suddenly spoke up, her voice wavering but loud enough to cut their conversation off. “I can't fix this,” she said, using the back of her wrist to wipe her forehead. There was blood all over her hands. “I... she's not responding to irou-ninjutsu. There's something... something wrong with her, something _in_ the wound, I don't... know...”

Sasuke heard someone start to speak but he started talking before he could even recognize who he was interrupting. “Let me take a look,” he basically ordered, his anger still present but pushed back in the face of the impending crisis. Sakura looked up at him. She seemed slightly offended, but he stared her down until she gave in and moved.

He pressed his hand to Kaisuki's forehead again one he had knelt down beside her. Her skin was warm, but he could feel that the chakra radiating off her was cold, dark, and unfriendly. He'd had a feeling...

“What are you doing?” Sakura asked, sounding vaguely bothered by something. Her voice was still thick, and it was evident that she was extremely upset.

Sasuke didn't answer her. Instead, he directly asked the S-rank missing-nin standing somewhere behind him, “Was she stabbed by one of those … shadows?”

“Yea,” Kisame replied immediately. “Well, I'm pretty sure she was. Sumi wasn't carrying any other weapons that could've made a wound like that. I wasn't really in the immediate area so I didn't see what happened, I just saw the aftermath.”

Sasuke nodded, frowning, and held his hand over Kaisuki's wound. He couldn't have explained to anyone how he knew what he was doing. All he knew what that he had the information readily available to him. There were several things he knew how to do that he didn't know how he'd learned, and things that he could only do if he had demonic energy at his disposal. Some things he couldn't create but knew how to break or deconstruct or otherwise negate - such as barriers and rifts.

He also knew how to expel demonic energy and entities from living bodies (though he couldn't do it on himself), which was the _really_ important detail.

His eyebrows came together as he concentrated, using some foreign sense that he didn't have a name for to reach out and directly touch the dark, _dark_ energy that was clinging to Kaisuki. It burned against his fingers but he ignored the icy hot sensation and sent a pulse of his chakra, electric and full of life, through the thin layer of demonic energy. It wasn't quite the same process as what he would do for a regular exorcism, but it was the same basic concept.

He had to send several waves of his chakra crackling over Kaisuki's skin before he started to see marked improvement. He could feel four sets of eyes on him but he pointedly ignored them. The chakra radiating off his best friend was changing rapidly. The first thing he noticed was that it was warming – not much, because Kaisuki's chakra naturally ran rather cold, but noticeably warmer than it had been. The color of the energy he was perceiving through the contact he had made with it was definitely returning to his adopted sister's normal lavender, as well.

He sent one last shock through, and Kaisuki flinched slightly and hissed in pain. He smiled in relief. That was more of a response any of them had gotten out of her since they'd arrived in the cave. The last vestiges of the dark energy that had latched on to her evaporated into the atmosphere, and he leaned back on his knees.

“Kaisuki?” He called gently, pressing a hand to her forehead. Her fever was already going down a couple of degrees. “Are you awake enough to hear me?”

She hummed hoarsely in reply, her face becoming drawn with pain. “Oh, good,” Sasuke sighed out. He turned to Kisame as he stood and stepped out of the way of someone who knew slightly more irou-ninjutsu than himself, glancing over at Sakura as well. “She should respond to irou-ninjutsu now...” He trailed off, looking at the faces around him.

Kisame looked relieved, thankful, and any number of other things along the same lines. He didn't seem to care how or _what_ Sasuke had done, he just recognized that the Uchiha had solved the problem. Sakura was staring at him with wide, anxious eyes, and Naruto looked a bit freaked out as well. Kakashi-sensei was scrutinizing him carefully, looking somewhere between mildly suspicious and somewhat awed.

He decided not to ask them what they were staring at. He knew they were staring at him because of what he'd just accomplished. He didn't care to know what they thought of it.

Kisame dropped into a kneel, touching Kaisuki's forehead, and then her shoulder, and then holding his hand over the wound in her side and pouring irou-ninjutsu into it. “May I ask what you did and how?” The blue-haired man asked without even looking up.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, frowning. “I... uh... I don't really know, to be... honest,” he mumbled. “It's just something I can do now. Or, well, I mean... it's just... it's something I learned to do at some point... I guess...”

Kakashi-sensei nodded slowly, looking only a little skeptical. “Have you done it before?”

“I haven't needed to,” he grunted in reply. “Although, I suppose I must've done it at some point if I remember how to do it now.”

Naruto and Sakura looked equally unsatisfied by that response, but Sasuke ignored them. He turned his attention back to Kisame. The man was still tending to Kaisuki. She still hadn't roused, but he was in the process of giving her a shot. Probably either antibiotics or painkillers. Sakura was eyeing the man as he administered whatever drugs he was administering, but she didn't say anything so it was probably fine.

Kisame sighed and stood back up, looking at Sasuke. “Thank you,” he said immediately, sounding extremely relieved. “Really. Not sure what I would've done if she didn't make it. I'm getting a little tired of my traveling companions croaking on me.”

Sasuke couldn't help smiling at the man's quip. “Yea, of course,” he said in reply. “She's my friend, too.”

“Sasuke,” Kisame began, and Sasuke blinked at the sudden seriousness of his tone. “Itachi-san got himself thrown in prison for a very good set of personal reasons. He has every right to live by his own moral code, and if that means paying his dues by serving his time, so be it. Remember that before you do something stupid.”

The rest of Team 7 didn't understand – he could tell by the way they were staring at Kisame - but Sasuke froze. Did Kisame know about Itachi's mission? Had Itachi told him at some point? Why would Itachi have told him that, if he'd refused to tell anyone else for the rest of his life? What would've persuaded him to spill those particular beans?

He found himself wondering just how close Itachi and Kisame had been before Itachi's “death.” Had Kisame known that Itachi had survived? Had Kaisuki known? Or had his older brother hidden it from _everyone_?

“What... are you talking about?” Sakura deadpanned, sounding irate all of a sudden. Kisame looked over at her and smiled.

“Sasuke knows what I'm talking about,” he stated in a frosty voice. The rest of his team looked at him, but Sasuke didn't reply. He was too busy staring at Kisame, feeling as though he were seeing the man in a new light. Itachi and Kaisuki both seemed to trust the guy with their lives. Who in the Nations _was_ Hoshigaki Kisame, anyway?

_Hoshigaki..._

“Sasuke?” Naruto called to him, and he continued to ignore his team.

Instead, he directed at Kisame, “Kaisuki said, when she wrote me last,” he began slowly, uncertainly, as he was putting pieces together. “That she was referred to Dr. Kuseno by someone-...”

“Shigaki,” Kisame filled, chuckling. “Yea, that would be me.”

“Why?” Sasuke wanted to know. He was beginning to feel a little queasy. How had he been so blind as to hate all of these people for so long?

Kisame's smile became saddened. “You didn't get to see how insane this poor girl was driving herself, trying to figure out what she could do to find you, and then _fix_ you, all the while fighting with your stupid teammates,” he bluntly stated. “I owe her a lot, and you and Itachi-san are the only people she has left to call family. Figured it was the least I could do.”

Sasuke could see how offended Naruto and Sakura were, but he didn't actually look their way or speak to them. He lowered his head, staring at the ground, and nodded slowly. He didn't understand Kisame at all, but he wanted to. He wanted to get to know the one person Itachi had trusted enough to tell about his mission to wipe out the Uchiha clan. He wanted to get to know the man Kaisuki had turned to when friends at home had turned her away.

“Anyway,” Kisame said in a conclusive, somewhat apologetic tone as he turned to Kakashi-sensei. “I highly doubt you lot were just wandering around aimlessly on that road for no reason. I'm sure you have a mission to get back to, or something responsible like that.”

Kakashi-sensei looked exhausted and pale, but he nodded in agreement. He had to have aged fifteen years in the past half hour. “You would be right about that,” he stated, glancing amongst his genin responsibilities. He looked back to Kisame, looking sincere for once. “Thank you for looking after Kaisuki,” he spoke. “It was supposed to be my job but... well, it's hard when there's four of them.”

Kisame nodded, looking as though he understood perfectly. “I hear you on that one,” he said, sounding sad. “Don't hold it against yourself, Kakashi. There's only so much you can do when they start hating each other.”

The two exchanged a look that was completely unreadable. “C'mon, children,” the jounin said with a sigh. “We'd best get a move on.”

Naruto and Sakura, who had been quiet for a while, nodded silently and turned in unison, stalking out of the cave. Kakashi-sensei was close behind them, glancing over his shoulder at Sasuke. The Uchiha looked at him for only a split second before the silver-haired man turned back around and headed out of the cave.

He turned to the swordsman immediately, his mouth opening to speak, to ask a question, but Kisame placed a hand on his head and smiled warmly at him before he could.

“Kaisuki told me already,” he said, and for a moment Sasuke didn't know what he was talking about. “I'm completely fine with it. I think it'll be pretty fun, in fact. I hope this next four and a half months fly by without incident.”

Sasuke's eyes began to burn again, and he nodded, lowering his gaze as the meaning of Kisame's words penetrated. “I do too,” he said quietly. “I hate them all.”

Kisame sighed softly, ruffling his hair. “Four and a half months, Sasuke,” he reiterated. “Try not to think about it and it'll be done before you know it. In the meantime, stay out of trouble.”

Sasuke bobbed his head again. “Yea,” he replied, reaching up and digging the knuckle of his index finger into his eye. He looked up, staring out towards the mouth of the cave with a dulled, hollow feeling in his chest. “I will. Thank you, Kisame.”

“Any time,” the man replied easily.

He stepped past Kisame and walked out of the cave, staring at the ground as he buried his hands into his pockets. He heard one of his teammates say his name, but he didn't respond at all. He didn't really care what they had to say or do. He could feel eyes on him, but he ignored them. He just started walking back the way they'd come, ignoring the chatter around him.

“What an asshole. Who the hell does he think he is?”

_I can't wait to be_ _**done** _ _with these people._

 


	14. abandonment issues

He could tell that they were running out of ideas.

After nearly eight months, the interrogation team had finally started to slow down, so to speak. Itachi was being taken to the basement with less and less frequency over time, and he was noticing that they were recycling tactics. They'd redone the large brand on his back twice. They'd been continuing to _destroy_ his right arm. He couldn't have counted the number of newer scars he was sporting.

The other day they'd cut off his little and ring fingers on his left hand and then cauterized the wound with red-hot metal. The pain had been unimaginable, but he still didn't utter a word. Wolf looked like he was getting to the point of accepting defeat and ordering for his execution and Itachi was _elated_.

Madara had done some pretty significant damage of his own when Itachi had thoughtlessly mentioned that they might _finally_ kill him in a couple more weeks.

“ _I guess Wolf is on the verge of giving up... so I might finally get to die.”_

It seemed like the ghost was unraveling with him. Madara was as gentle and compassionate as possible when Itachi returned from the basement, so long as he didn't start talking about wanting to die. Madara made a point to try to keep his companion's head up by talking to him and making fun of Wolf, until Itachi's crippling depression and suicidality would upset him to the point that he left for six hours to “check on Sasuke.”

“ _How many times do I have to do_ _ **this**_ _before you get it through your thick skull that you're_ _ **never**_ _going to die on me!_? _”_

Itachi laid his hand over his massively swollen shoulder and squeezed just slightly, clenching his jaw against the pain that immediately flared down his arm and across his back. He didn't stop, even when his eyes started to water. The pain was grounding, at least. It helped take his mind off the awful things Madara did and said.

The ghost wasn't with him at that moment. He'd upset Madara again, to the point that he'd left the cell – the _prison –_ and gone to who knew where. The dead Uchiha had said that he was going to go check on Sasuke and everyone. Sometimes, Itachi knew he actually went and did that. He'd come back and update him on how his little brother was doing and tell him what day it was.

Other times, he'd disappear for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and Itachi would be having panic attacks in the cell by the time he returned and he'd come back wordlessly and put his living companion to bed and that would be the end of it. No updates on those days, which was why Itachi was sure he didn't check on Sasuke when he left because Itachi had upset him.

Or maybe he did, and he was just withholding the information as punishment. Itachi couldn't be sure.

_I'm sorry, please come back._

He felt terrible about it. He knew that Madara didn't have anywhere or anyone to go to if he died. He knew that the ghost knew that he would eventually croak, but he also knew that Madara spent all of his time cleverly not thinking about it. He knew that Madara would do _anything_ to keep him alive (up to and including _possessing him_ ). He knew all of those things, and yet he couldn't seem to just _shut up_ about how much he wanted to die.

Madara was in enough pain without Itachi constantly reminding him that he was going to be permanently alone again in very little time.

He flinched when the loud door at the end of the hall screeched open, but he didn't move except to look towards the door with dull, tired eyes. The footsteps of the person approaching where much quicker than usual. Wolf always strode down the hall with purpose but not with haste. He seemed to like to pretend that Itachi didn't infuriate him, but he wasn't a particularly good actor, to be honest.

He heard someone muttering something, the voice sounding somewhat familiar even though he could barely hear it and couldn't understand what they were saying. The footsteps continued to approach, walking quickly and then slowing down and then speeding up and then slowing down. It took Itachi only a few seconds to realize that, whoever that was, they were looking in every cell.

They were probably looking for the only prisoner in the hall – Uchiha Itachi himself.

Abruptly, the someone in question came into view, slowing to a stop and glancing in the cell across the way before turning to his left and spotting the prisoner. Itachi froze, eyes widening a fraction, his lips parting slightly. Sasuke stared back at him with a look of shock and dismay, his eyes skirting over the various injuries and scars Itachi sported.

“Y-you...” his little brother began and stopped, swallowing hard. He looked like he wanted to be sick. Itachi couldn't find it in himself to play his usual “I don't feel things” act, but he pushed himself upright with his left arm.

He stared at Sasuke for a moment before he broke the ice and spoke. “What are you doing here, Sasuke?” He asked dully. He wished Madara were with him.

Sasuke's face paled, his mouth opening and closing several times. Itachi could visibly see the anxiety that his brother was fighting to function around. He'd never known Sasuke to be so anxious.

“I-I...” Sasuke forced out, but then fell silent again. He was still staring at the injuries that decorated his older brother very conspicuously.

Itachi sighed softly, “I worked for the most powerful criminal organization in the Shinobi Nations for almost a decade, Sasuke. Were you expecting something different, naive little brother?”

The younger sibling in question clenched his fists, anger flashing across his black eyes. “I'm not naive, I just...” he trailed off, looking towards the ground. “I don't know, I hadn't... thought about it.”

Itachi scrutinized him. He was definitely struggling to say something. “Sasuke, what is it?” He asked again. “What would possess you to break into this place to see _me_?”

There was another pause, this one stretching to about a minute before his brother finally spoke. “Will you _please_ ,” Sasuke said, his shoulders beginning to shake, “tell Tsunade-sama about your mission to wipe out the clan?”

Itachi stiffened and froze in the same breath, unable to stop the shift in his expression. How did Sasuke find out? Who told him? Why? It wouldn't have been Kisame – Kisame would _never_ do something like that, he would _never_ in a milTiger years betray Itachi's trust like that. Who else knew? The Sandaime Hokage was dead and Danzou and the Elders would never admit to that. No one else alive knew where that particular record was.

He mastered himself a second too late. Sasuke was staring at him with wide eyes, looking as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had probably thought that _maybe_ that wasn't true, but Itachi had confirmed it by freezing up. Stupid mistake, stupid, _stupid_ mistake.

He doubted he could get around it by lying at that point, but he had to try. “What are you talking about?” He deadpanned. His heart was hammering away in his chest and that coupled with the pain that was radiating from his arm was beginning to give him a migraine.

Sasuke blinked, his eyebrows coming together momentarily before an irritated look crossed his expression. “Don't lie to me,” he hissed, glancing down the hall towards the door. “I'm not blind and I'm not stupid.”

Itachi cursed his family for producing a line of incredibly intelligent individuals. His jaw was tight. He wasn't sure what to say and he didn't want to waste too much time talking to Sasuke. His little brother would be in a _lot_ of trouble if Wolf – or any other ANBU members – showed up and caught them conversing.

He lowered his gaze and sighed softly. “Who told you that?” He asked tiredly. Sasuke didn't answer him right away, and he looked up at his little brother.

“It... I mean...” Sasuke started and stopped, a strangely ashamed look on his face. The younger swallowed and shook his head distractedly. “Who told me doesn't matter, I want you to tell Tsunade-sama.”

Itachi was still for a moment at that. “Why?”

Sasuke, who hadn't been making eye contact in the first place, dropped his gaze back to the ground. The shame was clear as day and Itachi had no idea where it was coming from. “So she'll let you out of prison.”

“And why would I want her to do that?” Itachi challenged stonily. “If you know the story, why are you questioning me?”

“I just...” Sasuke began softly, so softly Itachi almost couldn't hear him. “I wanted... I wanted you out of prison so...”

His brother was _struggling_ to get the words out, and Itachi had no idea why. “You don't seem very committed to it, if you're having this much trouble telling me.”

Sasuke looked up at that, his fists tightening again as his shoulders started to shake. Itachi could clearly see that his eyes were watering and he looked like he was about ready to burst into tears. “It's not that,” he replied in a wavering voice. “Itachi, you're... you're all I have left.”

Itachi's stomach dropped and his eyes widened again before he could stop them. Of all the things for Sasuke to ask of him, he hadn't expected _that_. His heart was hammering thunderously in his chest and his head was _pounding_.

_Madara, please come back._

He was struck by a sudden need to have the ghost with him so seemingly randomly, his eyes started to burn and he had to fight to keep them from beginning to water. Right then was the worst possible time for him to have a nervous breakdown. He couldn't just lose it in front of Sasuke. He was supposed to be a certain way in front of the masses, he couldn't betray that image.

He swallowed the lump that had risen up his throat and lowered his gaze to the ground, his jaw tight. “You know I can't do that,” he quietly replied. “And you have friends you can go to, you don't need me. You definitely don't need _me_.”

He heard Sasuke take in a shuddering breath and when he looked up he was stunned to find that, just like that, he'd reduced his brother to tears. His eyebrows came together in a mixture of confusion ( _why are you crying?_ _ **What**_ _is wrong?_ ) and near panic ( _oh no, oh no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't cry, I didn't mean to make you cry, I didn't I swear_ ). He didn't know what to do and his body had locked up, paralyzed in horror at what he'd done.

“No,” Sasuke told him, his voice thick and shaky and full of frustration and _misery_. “I don't have _anyone_. Kaisuki's not in town anymore and I'm not allowed out of the village, _except_ on missions, when I'll be escorted by Team 7.”

Itachi blinked, shocked. Madara had mentioned Kaisuki ditching the village, but he hadn't mentioned anything about a curfew or a boundary line. “Naruto and Sakura are terrified of me and Kakashi-sensei is too tired to care about any of it enough to even attempt damage control at this point. The villagers all want me executed and Tsunade-sama is sick of dealing with me being a problem.” His little brother told him. Itachi was stiff as a board, beginning to feel nauseous.

Madara hadn't said anything about dysfunction within Team 7, either. Or about the villagers being frightened or hateful of Sasuke. Or that Sasuke was on the verge of going to pieces. At no point had Itachi heard anything about his baby brother being so miserable he wanted to visit his felon of a brother in prison to beg him to give up his biggest, most important mission so that they could live together again.

He hadn't heard _anything_ negative about Sasuke's re-adjustment to the village.

“I want to leave again,” Sasuke miserably continued, scratching absentmindedly at the inside of his wrist. “I want to go join Kaisuki – she's traveling with Kisame.” Itachi stiffened at that but didn't say anything. How had Sasuke found out about that? Did the rest of Team 7 know? “But I'm on ANBU's threat watch for another four months so I have to just deal with everyone treating me like a baby killer or a time bomb or both.”

Itachi stared at him as his little brother concluded his rant, feeling stricken. Sasuke buried his face in his hands and took in several shaky breaths, his shoulders shaking. The older of the two of them couldn't tear his gaze away. He'd _never_ seen Sasuke reduced to such a state of distress, and he wasn't sure if it was a result of some kind of side effect of the possession or if it had something to do with just how miserable he was. It was heart-wrenching to watch, but he _couldn't_ do what his baby brother was asking of him. He couldn't.

He _couldn't_.

Itachi lowered his gaze the ground, feeling even more nauseous than he had a moment ago. “Sasuke,” he said softly. “I _can't_.”

His chest felt tight and his throat was closing up and his eyes were burning. He wanted to help Sasuke, he really did. But he couldn't. He couldn't do that. It would take a lot to get him to change his mind. He'd been tortured for about eight months with minimal breaks and he hadn't said anything. There was nothing his little brother would be able to say or do at that point to change his mind. He'd seen through every trick in the book.

 _Madara,_ _**please** _ _._

He didn't look up when he heard Sasuke start to speak - “Why-...” - but he did when he heard the door to the hall slam open. His eyes widened as his head shot up, which aggravated his shoulder. Sasuke had turned to look towards the source of noise, but he turned to look at Itachi one more time with raw pain in his eyes before he turned and took off in the opposite direction of the main exit. There wasn't another exit at that end of the hall, he was reasonably certain.

There was a loud explosion and a moment later a rush of dust filled the air. Itachi pressed his hand over his nose and mouth right away, amazed that Sasuke had just blown a hole in the wall as a means of escaping. Clearly no one had taught him how to _actually_ be a ninja.

The dust settled to the ground all at once, very abruptly, clearly by way of a doton jutsu. Slowly, he lowered his hand, stiff with tension. Sasuke's visit had been discovered. That meant that Itachi was going to get in trouble. Or rather, Itachi was going to be interrogated more brutally than usual, because he wasn't going to tell anyone who had visited him in his cell just then. He would be _damned_ if he ratted out his little brother. They could imagine it was whatever missing-nin they wanted. Itachi wouldn't give them a name.

He watched Wolf stop at his cell and stare at him for a long moment. Itachi could tell he was angry without him even having to speak.

“And who was that?” He demanded to know. Itachi simply stared back at him, his expression tired but not frightened. It was a lie and a half but, judging by Wolf's clenched fists, the ANBU interrogator couldn't tell.

They had a staring contest for about fifteen seconds before the lead interrogator slammed his palm against the chakra receptor on the wall and opened the cell door. Itachi's jaw was tight, his heart hammering away in his chest, his stomach twisting, and his face schooled to exhausted indifference. Wolf strode up to him wordlessly, and Itachi didn't even consider moving to dodge when the interrogator's hand shot out and wrapped around a handful of his hair, yanking forward. At the same time, he grabbed his prisoner's injured shoulder and dug his fingers in _hard_. It took every bit of willpower in him to hold in the sharp cry that bubbled up his throat.

“If I find out that your _pest_ of a brother was in here,” Wolf hissed venomously. Itachi had to consciously prevent himself from stiffening, from freezing up, from reacting at all. His heart jumped into his throat and he bit his tongue until he could taste copper. Why would Wolf think for even a second that that had been Sasuke? “I swear I'll make sure he sees much, _much_ worse than just the death penalty.”

Wolf pulled harder on his hair. “Get up,” he snarled. It didn't escape Itachi's attention, how many things Wolf was doing wrong. The cell door was still open, which was the dumbest thing anyone in a position of authority in a prison could possibly do. He didn't appear to have any intention of using shackles, even though that was something that was _drilled_ in the heads of every incoming ANBU member, Black Ops or not. He was harming his prisoner in his cell, which was _extremely_ illegal in Hi no Kuni.

Wolf dug his fingers in again and Itachi couldn't stop his other hand from shooting up like a bolt of lightning and grabbing his middle finger, immediately wrenching it backwards until it dislocated. Wolf hissed in pain, releasing Itachi's hair and wrenching his finger free before backhanding him with an impressive amount of pressure.

Wolf grabbed him by the throat and wrenched him off the bed before he'd even had a chance to recover from the blow. “I'm not going to kill you yet, _Uchiha_ ,” he growled lowly, squeezing so hard he cut off the prisoner's airways. Itachi was trying to pry his hands off with his functional hand almost immediately. “If you've still got this much fight in you, I suppose I should be trying harder.”

 _Well,_ _**that** _ _figures._

Itachi forced himself to drop his hand from Wolf's wrist, stopped resisting, stopped fighting. The ANBU interrogator gave pause, seemingly startled by the Uchiha's sudden, obvious surrender, if not disappointed by it. He could hear the man grinding his teeth together as he let go of Itachi's throat with one hand and loosened the grip somewhat with the other. A moment later he could hear the sound of those heavy shackles that were too small, and he resisted the urge to sigh.

As Wolf was cuffing his hands behind his back, as he was ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder, and as he was trying to calm his racing heart as he panicked about whether not Sasuke would be found out, he wondered why he even bothered attempting to get people to kill him.

It wasn't like he was _allowed_ to die, after all.

.

“Wolf,” someone said from somewhere behind the chair he was strapped to.

Itachi bit back about a third of the cry that came up his throat as the lead interrogator ripped back the searing hot blade he'd buried into his prisoner's leg. The wound immediately started bleeding, the cauterized flesh having been torn back open when Wolf had removed the knife. His leg was on fire and the pain was _radiating_ up and down the extremity.

“What?” Wolf asked, looking over Itachi's shoulder. A gesture must've been made, because the interrogator slammed his bloodied knife down on the metal table to Itachi's left and stalked out of the room. The door was loudly slammed, and Itachi was left alone for the first time in fourteen hours and thirty-six minutes.

He focused on trying to steady his breathing while he waited for Wolf to return. No one usually interrupted them, so he couldn't say for sure how long the interrogator would be gone for. He was immediately feeling the raw loneliness that had been sitting in the back of his head since his ghostly companion had up and left. Wolf was cruel to him, but his presence kept Itachi's mind off a lot of things with impressive ease. He'd been sort of hoping that Madara would've found him by that point, but he hadn't. The ghost had been gone for quite a while. Itachi supposed he must've really messed up.

_What if he doesn't come back?_

The thought returned suddenly and his heart jumped into his throat. He immediately started trying to squash the thought, but it spiraled away from him before he could catch it. His mind was racing so fast he couldn't keep up, even with his prodigy-level thinking speed. The flickers of things he was able to discern in the mess of pain and anxiety and despair were making him nauseous and he wished, _prayed_ for Madara to return to him.

Steadying his breathing became nearly impossible quite fast. If his ribs hadn't been broken, it may have been _slightly_ easier, but with those cracks and fractures he was already practically hyperventilating to avoid jostling them as much as possible. His eyes were burning and his throat felt tight and the tremors in his shoulders worsened, which horribly aggravated the pain in his right arm.

_Please come back, Madara._

The door opened again and he held his breath.

“I don't know what you're expecting,” Wolf was saying as two sets of footsteps entered the room. “He hasn't spoken a word to anyone since he got here.”

There was a sigh from another person, and Wolf scoffed. “I'll be outside. Yell if you get him talking.”

Itachi's immediate thought was that they'd called in a "specialist", and his stomach jumped into his throat. After a pause in which the door slammed, the newcomer walked around to stand in front of him. Whoever they were, they wore the jounin uniform, they weren't large enough to be Ibiki Morino, and they didn't speak right away. He wondered if they were gauging his condition, considering whether or not he was conscious, or contemplating what they were going to say or do first. It was difficult, but Itachi lifted his head to gaze at the person who had come to see _him_.

It was Kakashi, as odd as that was.

For a moment, Itachi wondered if he was hallucinating or under the sway of a powerful genjutsu. “Kakashi-san,” he greeted monotonously with a hoarse voice. He wondered if he looked as awful as he felt. Probably.

Kakashi looked surprised when Itachi spoke. Wolf must have told him all sorts of things about Itachi refusing to speak to them, about how stubborn he was, about how much they'd already done to him to no avail. He'd probably gone on a rant for five minutes, just complaining about how his prisoner was such a huge hassle simply by existing.

He could've laughed at his imagined scenario if his ribs hadn't been broken.

“Itachi,” Kakashi greeted in reply after he had spent a few seconds scrutinizing the ex-Akatsuki member. The jounin looked exhausted, and Itachi kept thinking of what Sasuke had said - _“Kakashi-sensei is too tired to care about any of it enough to even attempt damage control at this point.”_ Indeed, Kakashi looked to have aged about ten years since the last time Itachi had seen him. He could tell how much stress the man must have been undergoing just by looking at his face.

Between Sasuke's defection, Sasuke's possession, and Naruto and Sakura and Kaisuki fighting about Sasuke, he could only imagine how much sleep the jounin must've been losing. His job was to look after his team, but at the rate things were apparently going, Itachi figured Kakashi was probably planning to retire after his team took and passed the Chuunin Exams.

He felt bad for the man. Sasuke wouldn't have become such a huge problem if Itachi hadn't left him by himself in Konohagakure a decade ago.

 _Sorry about that_.

“What can I do for you?” Itachi dryly asked after he'd swallowed to wet his throat. It was hard to play off how much pain he was in, and he wasn't entirely sure why he was bothering.

The jounin watched him for a few more seconds before he replied. “I wanted to ask you if you knew of any of Sasuke's old hiding spots, from when he was a kid.”

Itachi stared blankly at Kakashi for a long moment before he slowly asked. “Why would you ask _me_ something like that?”

Another sigh. “He's missing.” He quietly replied, sounding somehow even more exhausted. “Last time anyone saw him, he was borderline hysterical. When he gets like that he tends to regress back to the maturity levels of someone anywhere between six and twelve and behaves accordingly, so I figured I should start looking in the places he would've hidden when he was younger.”

Immediately, a rather lengthy list of places started popping into Itachi's head. However, alongside that list was the knowledge that, even if Sasuke was acting like a child for some reason and hiding from people, he was still an Uchiha. He still had beyond genius-level intellect. He was still extremely good at hiding and staying hidden when he was upset and didn't want to be found.

When Sasuke had been a child, he would hide in a new spot every time he disappeared, leaving Itachi to scour the entire village to look for him. He'd check all of the previous locations and then anywhere else he could think of. And, to be perfectly honest, he was ashamed to admit that he'd only found Sasuke before he was already heading home a handful of times out of the _dozens_ of times he'd disappeared.

The list of previous hiding spots was _long_ , but Itachi remembered every one and he knew what kinds of places Sasuke preferred to seek out. Where he went would probably depend on how far he'd “regressed” (Itachi hadn't realized _that_ had been a problem either, thanks to Madara), so he'd probably end up searching for quite a while. If his little brother sensed his approach, he'd move. Sasuke wasn't a sensory type but he _was_ the type to set up all kinds of traps and things. Not to injure or capture, but to alert him if someone was approaching so that he could move in the opposite direction.

It'd be a difficult, time-consuming process to find his little brother, but he was... he was...

_In prison._

He couldn't go looking for Sasuke unless he broke out of prison. If he broke out of prison, he was going to be in a _lot_ of trouble. They might decide he was too dangerous to leave alive, but that wasn't a guarantee. If they didn't kill him, they may very well cut off one of his legs. That would be both inconvenient and extremely painful, but maybe the agony would make his heart stop.

He knew he could get out of prison, but he didn't know for sure how long he'd be able to avoid capture. He didn't know if he'd be able to track down Sasuke before he was caught. Once they caught him again, the chances that he'd be able to get out again would dip to about ten percent if he was honest, twenty if he was feeling egomaniacal.

He still only thought about it for a few seconds, though.

“No,” he lied calmly after a few seconds worth of a pause had passed. Kakashi was watching him carefully. Itachi wondered if he could tell what Itachi was thinking, if he'd gone to Itachi to ask about where Sasuke might be specifically so that Itachi would _know_ that Sasuke was missing. If Sasuke had been spouting to his team and to Tsunade about Itachi's mission to wipe out the Uchiha Clan, Team 7's jounin team leader may very well have decided to test it for real when the relevant genin had gone missing.

The timing was too convenient. Sasuke had probably disappeared to bait Itachi.

“I don't know any of his hiding spots,” the Uchiha continued. “To be honest, I rarely ever found him when he came up missing back then. If he doesn't want to be found, you're not going to find him.”

Kakashi lowered his gaze, nodding. “Should we expect him to come back, eventually?” He asked in a hollow voice. He looked tired and miserable and lonely and empty.

“ _The villagers all want me executed...”_

_I wonder how much of that Kakashi's been hearing from his peers._

Itachi's expression didn't shift because he didn't allow it. “That would depend on why he went missing,” he replied cryptically.

He felt uneasy. He wasn't sure how long it would be before he was put in a position where he'd have the opportunity to escape. He didn't know how much longer Wolf was going to keep him. He didn't know how long it'd be before Sakura was called down to repair the damage. _That_ was what was going to keep him – waiting for the irou-nin to come heal him and give him the opening he needed.

Kakashi nodded again, looking resigned. Then, he chuckled slightly, sounding like he wanted to have a breakdown. _I know the feeling, Kakashi._ “Thank you anyway, Itachi,” the jounin said with a sigh. He started to walk back around the Uchiha, back the way he'd come, but Itachi heard his footsteps stop when he was just out of sight.

“I'm sorry for doing such a terrible job taking care of Sasuke,” Kakashi spoke in a subdued voice, sounding genuinely apologetic.

Itachi didn't move even though he wanted to look at the man, didn't laugh even though he sort of wanted to. He just smiled bitterly at the ground a few feet ahead of him. “I'm not one to be complaining,” he replied softly.

Neither of them said anything else before Kakashi stepped out of the room. Right away, Itachi could hear the older man speaking to Wolf.

“He's not very talkative, is he?” The jounin said flippantly.

He could practically hear Wolf glowering at the silver-haired man. “I could've told you that myself and then you wouldn't have wasted an hour of my time.”

“I don't generally trust the word of interrogators. It's not you,” Kakashi replied. “I just know how easy it is for you guys to lie and get away with it.”

There was a pause, footsteps coming into the room that Itachi was in, and then the door slamming shut again. Wolf walked back around in front of him, grabbing the knife off the metal table in an agitated fashion. Itachi sighed softly, but didn't speak, didn't look up, didn't do anything else. His ribs were already protesting the amount of talking he'd been doing, but he didn't make any sounds or shift in any way that would suggest such a thing.

“ _Itachi, you're... you're all I have left.”_

_I can't... I'm sorry..._

He wished Madara would come and find him.

...

He'd successfully hidden from everyone who had been trying to find him for about three and a half days before he was found.

“Sasuke.”

He flinched at the sound of his name, even though he'd been expecting it. Itachi sounded tired and somewhat annoyed. Sasuke wondered if his brother was angry because he'd forced him to break out of prison to find him, or if he was annoyed by how hard it had been to find him. He knew Itachi had broken out about eighteen hours ago – he'd seen the “fireworks” that had been caused by his getaway.

After a long pause, Sasuke slowly turned around. Itachi still looked pretty terrible, but a lot of his injuries had been healed. He must have been seen by an irou-nin. His face was gaunt and when he was standing Sasuke could easier see how much weight he'd lost. His brother looked like a walking corpse, to be perfectly honest.

He didn't know what he wanted to say, so he didn't say anything. “What are you doing?” Itachi asked him from a couple yards away.

Sasuke didn't want to answer that question so he thought of something else to say. “What are you doing out here? Did someone send you to find me?”

Itachi's eyes narrowed. “Kakashi came to visit me while I was being tortured for information by Wolf,” his brother flatly told him. Sasuke's stomach twisted at both the harshness of his words and his blatant admittance to what 'interrogation' meant to ANBU's Black Ops. “He asked me where he should look to find you and told me you were missing, so I broke out of prison to look for you. Now, answer me: what are you doing?”

Itachi was furious with him, clearly. Sasuke wanted to flinch his way off the cliff to get away from the smoldering look in his eyes. If he'd been trying to be persuasive, obviously he'd picked the wrong set of options. “No one _told_ you to come find me...” he began weakly. The look Itachi gave him then was _murderous_ , so he decided to stop talking.

Itachi took a step towards him and he instinctively took a step backwards, feeling the softness of the ground beneath him. He was probably standing right at the edge of the cliff, so he needed to not take any further steps back if Itachi continued forward.

His brother had stopped moving, however. He was eyeing the ground by Sasuke's feet, his jaw tight and his whole body stiff. Sasuke watched his one hand clench into a fist a few times before he spoke again. “What's wrong, Sasuke?” Itachi asked with some uncertainty coloring his voice. It was a tone Sasuke hadn't heard since they'd been children and his heart leaped at the sound of it.

Then, he realized what he'd been asked and his stomach flipped. He wasn't even sure how he could explain it all. “A lot,” he said in a quiet voice. Itachi moved again, looking like the wanted to approach, but he stopped before taking a step forward. Sasuke watched him tensely.

“That's not very specific,” Itachi replied.

Sasuke stared at the ground. He didn't know what to say and it was becoming somewhat difficult to breathe. “Okay, alright,” Itachi sighed, his voice gentler. Sasuke suddenly became starkly aware of how ill he felt and how fast his heart was racing. He didn't know why he felt so sick. He was happy that Itachi had come for him, wasn't he? “We'll take this one piece at a time, because I need to understand what's going on if I'm going to help you.”

Sasuke's eyes began to burn, his eyebrows coming together in confusion. _Help_ him? The only thing Itachi could do to help him was rat out the Elders and get himself out of prison. If Itachi wouldn't be let out of prison even with that, Sasuke may very well go ahead and kill himself before his four months was up. He was _struggling_ to make himself wait as it was. Every day, something new happened that made him feel lonelier, more alienated, more _unwanted_.

“Firstly,” Itachi continued. “Naruto and Sakura are afraid of you. Why?”

Sasuke snorted at that, “Because they're stupid,” he replied bitterly, crossing his arms and scratching at his right wrist. “I guess somebody told Tsunade-sama that I could relapse or something like that, and since I get... I mean, since…” He paused, struggling to find the right set of words to use to make himself look the _least_ insane. Itachi's eyebrows had come together as he paid very close attention to what Sasuke was saying. It only served to make him more anxious, and he diverted his gaze to the ground between them. “Since I over-react so easily and it sometimes gets really... out of hand, they're all convinced I'm going to snap and kill someone on a dime. I don't... I don't even know what they mean by 'relapse.' I'd have to get possessed again to relapse, wouldn't I?”

Itachi answered his question when Sasuke didn't expect or want him to. “It's possible,” the older Uchiha stated. “Obviously, I don't _know_ , but if you...” he paused and Sasuke looked up at him again. He had stiffened but he remained that way for only an instant before he started speaking again, “If you're regressing in maturity, it wouldn't be a far reach to imagine that, under the right set of stressors, you _could_ black out. However, blacking out doesn't necessarily mean going into a frenzy and killing everyone around you, and if you haven't done so yet, I don't see why they're so worried about it.”

Sasuke stared at him. That brief monologue had done the opposite of making him feel better. His heart had jumped into his throat. So their concerns were actually founded after all? He didn't blame them for treating him a time bomb if he _was_ one. The burning in his eyes worsened and he looked back at the ground.

“Sasuke,” Itachi cut into his thoughts but he didn't look up. His brother sounded tired and Sasuke suddenly felt like he was being a bother. “If you were going to be triggered into an episode like _that_ , you would have by now.”

“They sent me to a psych ward for six months,” Sasuke replied in a subdued voice. He shouldn't have run off. That had been stupid. He was going to get _reamed out_ when his team found him, and he may very well be arrested for not turning Itachi in as soon as he saw him. “I've only been back for two months now. So far I haven't gone a week without someone needing to write up an incident report.”

Itachi didn't say anything for a long moment but Sasuke refused to look up. “An incident report?”

Sasuke's lower lip trembled. His shoulders had begun to shake without him even noticing ( _they'd been doing that so often lately, he'd gotten used to it_ ). “They treat me like a time bomb when they aren't treating me like I put babies on spikes. Everything is monitored and I get written up a lot.”

There was a long silence, and when Itachi spoke again his voice was quieter. Sasuke's eyes welled with tears before he could stop them, but they didn't fall.

“Sasuke,” Itachi's tone implied that what he wanted in that moment was eye contact, but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to look up. He heard his brother sigh after a few seconds. _Useless, stupid, childish..._ “Do you understand what you're asking of me?”

When he didn't reply, Itachi continued. “I gave up my life so you could be safe from Danzou and Konohagakure could be safe from the Uchiha Clan.” Sasuke felt like he was drowning. “If I gave up that secret now, I wouldn't just be betraying my village and my country and my family.” Itachi's voice was heavy and tired and Sasuke could hear every instant of misery he must've been feeling for a decade. “I would be betraying the _hundreds_ of people – innocent people – that I killed while working for Akatsuki. Believe me, if it was as simple as getting what I want, I'd gladly give up this guise so I could be with you again... but it's not that simple."

“ _He has every right to live by his own moral code, and if that means paying his dues by serving his time, so be it.”_

His eyes were watering to the point that he couldn't see and he found he couldn't breathe. His chest felt as though a snake were crushing him ( _he knew_ _ **that**_ _feeling far too well_ ) and his heart was beating away thunderously in his chest. He started scratching his arm absentmindedly, his hand shaking as he went. Itachi's gaze had lowered to the ground at some point, and Sasuke couldn't really make out his face in the slowly dimming light.

_Please don't..._

“Besides,” Itachi continued quietly. “If I get myself out of prison to come live with you, the way people treat _you_ will get so much worse.”

Sasuke stared at him at that, his nails digging into his forearm harshly. The tears that had been brimming in his eyes spilled down his cheeks, and he let swallowed down a sob that came up his throat. “You don't...” he began, nearly hyperventilating. “You don't _get_ it.”

Itachi looked up at him with a tired gaze, and Sasuke found himself frustrated and angry. “I don't _care_ how they treat me,” he managed to say around the lump in his throat. “I can't... I can't be alone like this anymore, I've been _alone_ since you... I've been alone since you killed... since you killed...”

Itachi was staring at him, looking stricken. “Sasuke...” he started when Sasuke didn't say anything for a solid ten seconds, but he didn't finish his statement. Sasuke felt like his heart was going to explode out of his throat and his stomach was rolling and he was suddenly starkly aware of how _miserable_ , how _lonely_ he'd been since he'd come back to his senses in the psych ward, since Itachi had _killed_ his lake monster.

_The least you can do is take responsibility._

“I haven't...” his throat closed up and he let out a distressed sound. Itachi took a step forward and Sasuke immediately flinched backwards, slid one foot back in response, stopping when he realized his heel was over the edge of the cliff. Itachi's left hand came up immediately, jerkily, as if steadying him from afar. His brother's eyes were suddenly wide and panicked, his face white.

“Itachi,” Sasuke sobbed, barely able to speak. “I haven't been alone _at all_ , since... since I was four _._ I _can't_ do this.”

Itachi's expression was dismayed, his hand still up as though he were placating a wild animal. “Sasuke, I... okay, firstly, step away from that ledge,” his brother said in a shaky voice. Sasuke shook his head defiantly ( _useless, stupid_ , _**childish**_ ), shifting his weight slightly so he was slightly more precariously standing at the edge of the cliff. Itachi swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, there was an unreadable glint in his eyes. Sasuke didn't know what to make of it. “Fine,” he said in a calm voice. “Just don't-...”

“Onii-san,” Sasuke cut in, feeling small and _weak._ His shoulders were shaking and he wished he had been sitting down because he wanted to curl up into a trembling ball. “Will you or won't you?”

Itachi closed his eyes again, eyebrows knitting together, a sigh coming out of his mouth. He slowly lowered his arm, wrapping it around his middle in much the same way Sasuke had. He'd never seen his older brother do that before. He wondered faintly when he'd picked that habit up.

"I won't," Itachi replied in the quietest voice after a pause. “I _can't_.”

Everything froze.

“ _Who do you think you're calling to for help?” Teara drawled with a laugh, twirling his knife in his hand as though it were an extension of his arm. “Itachi_ _ **abandoned**_ _you.”_

Sasuke felt like his heart had stopped beating. His mind had completely blanked out and he couldn't think at all. His body had locked up and it seemed like all he could hear was the buzzing in his head. He was faintly aware of the fact that he wasn't breathing correctly, but he couldn't seem to fix it.

The older Uchiha opened his mouth to say something, but Sasuke shook his head again, just enough for the movement to be visible. Itachi was still, looking despaired and lost and, interestingly, helpless. He saw his brother shift his foot forward and stop, and Sasuke smiled bitterly at the ground between them.

He barely heard himself speak. “Okay.”

He saw alarm in Itachi's expression for only a second before he'd slid his foot off the edge of the cliff and shifted his weight so that he pitched off the ledge completely. He thought he may have heard someone yell his name, but it was hard to tell over the sound of the wind rushing past his ears.

“ _Itachi_ _ **abandoned**_ _you.”_

 


	15. leap of faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY!! I completely forgot to post this on Friday because my STUPID PHONE didn't remind me like it was supposed to!!! DX

" _Sasuke_!!"

He was moving before he realized it, sprinting forward and lunging for his brother and _missing_ and then Sasuke was falling and he couldn't wait if he didn't go now he wasn't going to have a chance. Itachi threw himself off the cliff, reaching out with his good arm, reaching for his little brother, sending a burst of chakra to his feet to push himself through the air just a bit faster.

His hand closed around Sasuke's wrist and his little brother's eyes flew open even as Itachi was yanking him towards him and wrapping his arms around him, holding him close. He flipped them in midair, fully prepared to take the brunt of the impact, and he was certain he could hear Sasuke saying something but the wind rushing past his ears was far too loud.

He didn't really feel the impact against the river. He just heard a loud series of cracks and then everything when black.

...

All she could really do was curse herself over and over and over and over for freezing up for those few seconds. If she hadn't, Saeka would've had plenty of time to position them so that Khrai could catch them. She knew the youngest spirit's speed better than anyone (with the exception of Khrai); she would've had time.

If Kaisuki hadn't frozen up, Itachi's back wouldn't have been broken in four places. He would've been breathing when he found land again. He wouldn't have coded on the way to the ER.

Sasuke was sitting beside her, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. He'd been completely still for a couple of hours. He had been _hysterical_ when Kaisuki had first gotten to him and Itachi, but when the older brother's heart briefly stopped and Sasuke was called on to use his raiton to restart it, he'd become deadly, _numbly_ calm. He'd preformed his task perfectly and saved Itachi's life, and he hadn't spoken a word since.

_"Snap out of it, you_ _**idiot** _ _!! Nobody has time for you right now!!"_

It had certainly snapped him out of his frozen, horrified reverie, but Khrai's words seemed to have done a fair amount of damage by themselves. The elf had been silent since then, her vibe feeling saddened and possibly regretful, but she'd still been present. When Kaisuki had turned back from the reigns briefly to get an index on everyone's condition once they'd reached the waiting area they'd been directed to, the look on Khrai's face had been somewhere between determined and grim and resolved, as though she were ready to have to do something. As though she were _expecting_ to have to do something.

Saeka was still around as well, but it was clear she didn't want to be. Izumi (who had been and still was battling a breakdown of her own somewhere nearby) had spent nearly two hours calming her down from her panic attack with help from Kaisuki. If the youngest wasn't around, they wouldn't be able to keep tabs on Itachi's chakra, and if they couldn't keep tabs on Itachi's chakra, they would have to just wait in anxious silence for some doctor or nurse to tell them in a tone that suggested they were pleased about Itachi's passing.

Kaisuki stared at her hands as she picked at her thumb. Team 7 had been right behind her when she'd raced down that cliff to the waters below. She hadn't spoken a word to any of them. Sakura was on the operating team with Shizune-san, and Saeka had said that Naruto and Kakashi were with Tsunade-sama in her office earlier.

They were probably telling on Sasuke, if she had to guess. The younger Uchiha hadn't told her anything, and she didn't even really know what was going on. She'd been keeping in touch with Sasuke on a weekly basis and the Uchiha regularly replied, but she hadn't gotten the impression that things were bad enough for her adopted brother to want to throw himself off a cliff. She hadn't even realized anything had been really _wrong_ until she'd gotten a letter from Kakashi informing her that Sasuke had been missing for over twenty-four hours and they needed her help finding him.

She'd never run so fast in her life.

“Sasuke,” Kaisuki looked up at the sound of Kakashi's voice. Approaching from only a few feet away was the jounin team leader, Naruto, and a man in the Black Ops Wolf mask that Kaisuki had only seen once before – when Itachi had been exorcising that demon from Sasuke. He had been the only one to interact with the older Uchiha before he was knocked out and hauled off to be thrown in prison. He was also the one she'd had to fight and scream at with a wound in her gut to keep him from killing Sasuke.

She didn't like that man.

Kaisuki stood up, but Sasuke didn't move right away. After about a minute, though, he sat up and leaned back against the wall. He didn't rise like his adopted sister had. He stared at some spot on the wall across the hall from them but he didn't speak. Naruto opened his mouth to say something – likely scathing, just judging by the look on his face and the harsh glint in his blue eyes – but before he could utter a sound, the Black Ops Wolf spoke up in an icy voice.

“You're lucky I don't arrest you right now, _Uchiha_ ,” he spat the name like it tasted bad on his tongue and Kaisuki could feel her own fury rising alongside Khrai and Saeka's. As if his timing could be _any_ worse. “As it is, you've committed a series of serious crimes and broken your probation. If it wasn't for the Hokage, you _would_ be in prison.”

Sasuke turned his empty gaze upon the Wolf. Kaisuki was stiff as a board where she stood, hands clenched into fists at her sides, and it didn't escape her knowledge that her spirits were being extremely quiet. Khrai and Saeka's chakra felt ready to jump to violence to protect the younger Uchiha on a dime. Kaisuki hoped it wouldn't come to that.

" _I'll_ _ **kill**_ _him,_ " Saeka's voice floated up from behind her. She sounded genuinely murderous. She _really_ hoped that the Wolf would give her a reason to attack him again. Saeka may very well end up going berserk on him and slaughtering him right in the hospital. That wouldn't be good at all.

" _Remain calm, Saeka,_ " Kaisuki replied, still observing the unfolding situation. " _Killing him is a really bad idea._ "

" _It's not like they could keep us in prison,_ " Khrai chimed in in an agitated voice. " _And it's not like we consider ourselves shinobi of Konohagakure anymore, anyway._ "

" _You're doing the opposite of helping, Khrai_ ," the Yurei sighed. Khrai snorted.

" _Wasn't trying to_ _ **help**_ _, just offering food for thought._ " The elf replied coolly. Kaisuki decided it would be best not to reply.

"... have been miles away by now, and yet he went to you instead," the Wolf was saying. It wasn't hard for her to figure out that he was talking about Itachi, even if he didn't seem inclined to say the older Uchiha's name. “Why did he seek you after he broke out? Of all people, why _you_?”

“How should I know?” The younger Uchiha brother replied coldly, his voice as harsh and jagged as his chakra felt. He sighed and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets and gazing at the Black Ops member at he spoke. “ _I'm_ not the one who told him I was missing. I didn't even know he was alive until tonight, since I guess there's no extent to how many decisions you lot are going to make without me 'for my own good'.”

" _Sasuke_ ," Naruto spoke up with emphasis before the Wolf could reply, sounding rather excessively agitated. He'd been quiet up until that point, and Kaisuki wished he had just not said anything at all. "Why are you still being so difficult? You're in a fuck-load of trouble already. If you don't answer him honestly, you're going to be in even more trouble."

" _I'd kill Naruto, too_ ," Saeka suddenly said in a dangerous voice. Kaisuki pulled back from the reigns and looked back at the two remaining spirits. Saeka wasn't even looking at her. Her eyes were on the outside world, observing with a simmering hatred that seemed to grow more murderous every time they encountered Kaisuki's ex-team.

" _ **Saeka**_ ," Kaisuki chided in a strained voice. " _Enough, please. I know you despise him. I despise him, too. But we can't just go around killing people we hate just because we hate them and they're pissing us off. That's not how this works._ "

Saeka turned her gaze from the world she'd been observing. Kaisuki could faintly hear Sasuke talking outside - " _More_ trouble? I've broken my probation..." - and she wanted to turn her attention back to what was going on but she needed to guarantee that Saeka wasn't going to attack anyone in a fit of anger.

The youngest stared at Kaisuki, her jaw working and her gaze smoldering, but the Yurei didn't cringe away from it. " _What if they deserve to die?_ " She asked in a toneless voice.

" _We don't get to decide who deserves to die and who doesn't, Saeka,_ " Khrai cut into the conversation. " _That's what executioners and politicians do, and we don't want to be either of those things. We don't kill unless we're forced to,_ " she paused, her expression darkening. " _But I'm completely okay with deciding who deserves to get punched._ "

Kaisuki let out a noisy sigh. " _You're both being unreasonable_ ," she halfheartedly snapped at them. " _We don't make enemies where we don't have to._ "

" _They're already enemies,_ " Khrai bluntly stated.

Izumi stepped up out of the shadows at that moment, her eyes red and her face blotchy. Her soft smile was present and she looked tireder than Kaisuki had ever seen her. " _No, they're not_ ," the irou-nin stated. Saeka and Khrai looked over at her, " _They're just people we don't like anymore. Enemies are people who are trying to kill us. Don't confuse the two._ "

Kaisuki nodded. " _Exactly. Thank you, Izumi. Both of you,_ " she addressed Khrai and Saeka directly. " _Don't do anything I'm going to regret later, okay?_ "

When she turned back to the conversation in the world outside her inner landscape, she'd missed a fair amount of what was going on.. Sasuke appeared to be quickly recovering from freezing up, and she had no idea what had been said to cause such a sudden burst of anxiety in him. "I didn't say that," he replied tensely. Kaisuki's eyebrows came together in confusion, but she didn't say anything.

"You did," the Wolf responded, stepping towards him. Sasuke looked very obviously like he wanted to take a step back, but there wasn't anywhere for him to go. "'I had a whole conversation with Itachi after he broke out of prison to come looking for me.' I'm far too experienced with better liars to miss a slip-up like _that_."

She felt Khrai take a step forward behind her and she snapped at the woman over her shoulder, " _Do_ _ **not**_ _._ " She glanced back at her for just a second, " _What part of 'use force only if necessary' do you not understand?_ "

Khrai glowered at her. " _I have plenty of reason to._ "

" _No one's been assaulted yet, Khrai,_ " Izumi spoke up again. " _Just because you're pissed off and want to hit that man doesn't mean you have a good reason to._ "

 _Yes, thank you, Izumi,_ Kaisuki thought irritably. She turned back again, blinking and figuring out if she'd missed anything in that brief minute or two.

Naruto had opened his mouth to say something angrily to the Black Ops member from where he was standing out of the way, but Kaisuki saw Kakashi pinch his forearm lightly. When the blond looked at his jounin team leader, Kakashi just shook his head. She blinked. How could Naruto have so easily been silenced from yelling at someone who was giving Sasuke a panic attack? So much had changed, she didn't even know who the people she used to call her friends _were_ anymore.

She could see panic growing in Sasuke's gaze when she turned her attention back to him. He wasn't doing nearly as good a job hiding it as he had been when the conversation had first started. His face had lost a considerable amount of color and he was working his jaw but not speaking. He had told her that he'd been having a lot of difficulty regulating and controlling his emotions and their output in one of his letters, and she hadn't _quite_ understood what that mean and what it would have looked now. At that point, she could clearly see what he was talking about. She scrutinized him carefully, eyeing every bit of body language he was exhibiting, which was quite a lot. There was no way the Wolf couldn't tell that he was lying about _something_.

"What... are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked uncertainly. She could see that he was trying to find anger to pull on, but all he seemed to be finding was more panic.

"There was a break in at the prison three days ago. Shortly before you disappeared, ironically," the Wold said venomously. Kaisuki blinked, startled. Someone had successfully broken into Konohagakure's prison? How? And why? And _who_? Had it really been Sasuke?

"Whoever it was, they went straight to the solitary confinement wing we've been keeping your worthless brother in." the Wolf continued. Sasuke stiffened, a flash of anger brightening up his dark eyes. "They didn't kill him for us and, despite my efforts, I was unable to persuade him to tell me who it was. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Kaisuki looked to her adopted brother and blanched. She could see that he was clenching his jaw as hard as humanly possible. His shoulders were stiff and she could see a tempest of emotions – mostly anxiety – in his eyes. She could tell just by looking at him that it _had_ been him, and she knew for a fact that the Wolf had to see it as well.

Sasuke was very still for a couple of seconds too long before he responded in a tense but extremely dry voice. "No, I don't. I said what I said because I figured he must've broken out to come looking for me since he broke out and then came looking for me. Is that not a logical conclusion for me to be jumping to, Wolf-san?"

Before anyone could say anything, the Wolf's hand shot out and curled around Sasuke's throat, slamming him into the wall without a moment of hesitation. "I'm no idiot, _Uchiha Sasuke_. Your lies are more obvious than any I've ever seen."

Sasuke's eyes were wide, his hands wrapped around Wolf's wrist, digging his nails into the man's forearm in an effort to make him loosen his grip. Judging by the way the Uchiha was wheezing with ever strained breath, she knew that the Black Ops member was squeezing hard enough to at least partially cut off his airways.

"Oi! No one said anything about-..." Naruto began, but Kakashi held up a hand and silenced him, his expression still even though his gaze was smoldering. The blond looked at his jounin team leader, looking furious and stricken at the same time, but he stopped speaking. Kakashi must've told him that yelling at people wouldn't have helped, or something. Or maybe the jinchurikki just didn't care as much as he used to.

"I could arrest you right now, purely on the grounds of obstructing an investigation," the Wolf spat venomously, paying Naruto absolutely no mind. "And I have plenty of further charges I could add in to keep you under lock and key until I've extracted the truth from you."

" _Okay, that's_ _ **it**_ _._ "

Kaisuki heard Khrai speak only a moment before she felt fury far greater than her own seeping into her mood, into her mind. She didn't get any other form of a warning before her body took one step forward, hand shooting out like a lightning bolt and grabbing the Wolf by the throat. In the same movement, she took another step forward and wrenched the ANBU member away from Sasuke so hard, his momentum continued after she let go of him and he slammed into the wall on the other side of the hall _hard_.

"Kaisuki!" Kakashi barked when she took another step towards her fallen _enemy_ , mind buzzing with rage that only mostly belonged to her. For some reason, she felt personally angrier than she had before she'd attacked the Wolf. She paused and turned to look at the jounin who had spoken, chest heaving. "Enough."

"Fuck _you_ ," she spat before she realized what she was saying. Kakashi looked like he wanted to respond to that, but she didn't give him the opportunity. "Fuck all fucking three of you!" The words coming out of her mouth were mostly her own, but Khrai's voice seemed to echo in her head alongside her own and Saeka's chakra felt like it was boiling in her system and raising her body temperature.

"Sasuke has done _nothing_ wrong, other than being the victim of possession and having a felon for a brother, _neither of which is his fault_!" She rounded on the Black Ops member, who was still slowly picking himself up off the ground. Judging by the sound of shifting bone, she had a feeling she'd broken his ribs.

“ _Good._ ” Kaisuki didn't even know for sure who had spoken.

"And if you _ever_ lay a hand on Sasuke again," the Yurei growled in a vocal tone that didn't belong to her, her gaze murderous. She had a feeling her eyes had turned either pink or blue, if the look on Naruto and Kakashi's face was any indication. She could see Sasuke out of the corner of her eye, still pressed against the wall with wide, blank eyes, his face frozen in a look of shock and possibly fear. There were already bruises forming around his throat. "I _will_ come back to this shitty fucking village for the express purpose of ripping off your _fucking limbs_!"

"Kaisuki," she halted in her tirade and turned around at the voice she'd been waiting to hear for quite a while. She faced Sakura, seeing Sasuke slowly turning to look towards his teammate as well. The pink-haired girl's lips were pursed, and she looked annoyed. "Firstly, if you don't stop yelling in this _hospital_ , I'll have all of you removed. Secondly, Itachi's out of surgery. He's alive. If you want to see him, you're going to have to clear that with Tsunade-sama."

Kaisuki was still breathing rather heavily, her body temperature higher than it was supposed to be, her eyes burning from what felt like Saeka's chakra. Her vision seemed to be split, or rather, different in one eye than it was in the other. Sasuke was taking in shaky, nearly hyperventilating breaths beside her, and the sound of it was only infuriating her more.

“ _Maybe we should just kill all of them_ ,” Saeka muttered with extreme hostility. Kaisuki felt like her temperature was still rising and she was beginning to feel a little sick from it, but she didn't say anything. The feeling of Khrai's rage hadn't faded in the least. Her skin felt prickly in almost a painful way, and she realized a little belatedly that it felt like Khrai's chakra dancing across her skin.

"I already did," Kakashi was saying after letting out a long-suffering sigh and attracting everyone's attention. Kaisuki's fists were clenched tightly when she looked over at Wolf again, _daring_ him to try something again. "This was a waste of time, Wolf," the jounin said to the man in question. "Sasuke couldn't have broken into that prison and gotten to Itachi without being seen or caught. He's not trained for that sort of thing and the place is swarming with you guys. Unless you've all become incompetent since I retired, there's no way it's possible that Sasuke was your culprit."

There was a deathly silent pause before the Wolf's fists unclenched and he stalked wordlessly past Kakashi, disappearing into the thin air partway down the hall. Neither Khrai nor Saeka felt any less furious once he was gone. In fact, if anything, their energy, their vibe, their presence, felt even more enraged, as though they'd been sincerely hoping to be given a reason to actually kill ANBU's Black Ops Wolf. She didn't blame them, though. She felt exactly the same way, though to a slightly lesser extent.

Saeka's chakra was still coursing through her and Khrai's was still pricking every nerve she had. It felt like static in her body and a fever that ought to have been burning her out, and it wasn't exactly painful but it definitely wasn't comfortable.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke after the Wolf was gone, looking genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. You can see Itachi tonight _only_ , and then you'll never be seeing him again."

“ _You're not sorry,_ ” Khrai spat furiously. Kaisuki turned back to her, seeing her bright blue eyes _burning._ “ _You called that fucker here in the first place. Do not tell me that you're 'sorry', you piece of fucking_ _ **shit**_ _._ ”

“ _Khrai,_ ” Kaisuki spoke, her voice lowered. The elf looked over at her. “ _Kakashi probably didn't call him. That would've been Tsunade-sama._ ” She corrected. Khrai stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly, her fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

Sasuke's eyes were full of relief, horror, and dismay, and Kaisuki could see they were beginning to water. He opened his mouth to say something before he closed it again, no sound coming out. He seemed to have temporarily lost his voice.

"Sakura, where is he?" Kaisuki asked her once-friend in a significantly colder tone than she'd intended. The irou-nin glared at her momentarily before replying.

"He's in the ICU, room 251," she replied tersely. "There are guards outside the room, so Kakashi-sensei, you should go with him so they know he's not lying to them."

Kakashi nodded with another sigh, "Naruto," he said as he was walking past Sasuke and Kaisuki. "Go tell Tsunade-sama that she needs to either take Wolf off Itachi's case or keep him away from my teammates. He needs to retire. He's been an interrogator for too long, and Itachi's too good at pushing buttons."

Naruto looked angry about that for some reason. Kaisuki wondered if he was as pleased about Itachi being arrested and tortured for information as she could imagine him being. "Why does he need to be taken off Itachi's case?" He demanded.

“ _Why the fuck do you think?_ ” Khrai spat. “ _Why the fuck is everyone so fucking stupid?_ ”

"He just _assaulted_ your teammate, specifically because he's Itachi's brother, Naruto," Kaisuki snapped at him before she thought better of it. Did everyone have to suffer because of rampant stupidity? "In case you weren't paying any fucking attention."

"Nobody even asked you to be here," Naruto snarled at her, eyes burning angrily.

Kaisuki glowered at him. "Kakashi did, actually, since you lot apparently couldn't find Sasuke for three days. Great fucking job on _that_."

Naruto looked like he was going to say something in reply to that, but Sakura cut in, her voice raised and her tone implying that she was done with all of them and their bickering. "If you guys can't stop fighting, I'm going to throw _all_ of you out the window! This is a _hospital_ , for crying out loud!"

"Sorry, Sakura," Kakashi sighed out before anyone could go back to swearing at anyone else. "Won't happen again. Come on, Sasuke."

"Sasuke," Kaisuki turned to the Uchiha she'd addressed. The anger was still present, but she smothered it. She took her adopted brother's hand, realizing immediately that she could feel him shaking. Her heart wrenched. She hadn't even realized there had been a tremor wracking his whole body. It was so slight, she didn't think she would have noticed if she hadn't touched him. "I highly doubt they'll let me in with you, so... so I'm gonna head out, okay? I'll stay within an hour of the village for a couple of days, though, so keep me posted on things."

Sasuke looked stricken and like he really didn't want her to go, but he nodded anyway. "O-okay," he replied softly, never once making eye contact. "Thank you for... everything, Kaisuki." His voice was unsteady and he sounded like he was on the verge of having a breakdown.

"It'll be alright, Sasuke," she said encouragingly. "Stay strong, okay? I'll see you another time."

" _We should stop by his apartment so I can leave him some more of his meds,_ " Izumi spoke up from behind her, sounding tired. Khrai and Saeka's presences slowly faded into the back of Kaisuki's mind, but they didn't disappear. They'd probably gone to the kotatsu room to fume. " _It'll be a nice surprise for him._ "

Kaisuki gave the Uchiha a brief hug that she could tell he didn't want to let go of, offering him one last smile before he slowly turned and followed after Kakashi. She stalked down the hall past Naruto, never once sparing him a glance. " _That's a really good idea, Izumi,_ " she replied, trying to smother her feelings further and not really succeeding. She needed to vent some of it out. Maybe she could spar with Kisame later. " _I can't wait until he can join us, Izumi. I'd like us to start experimenting with some kind of... mood stabilizers for him, if that's a thing._ "

" _I can't wait either, Kaisuki,_ " Izumi replied sincerely. " _And I'd be more than happy to start testing mood stabilizers on him. There are a plentiful amount of things I could try, just from Tsuki no Kuni. That's not even counting what I may find if I look here in the mainland._ "

Kaisuki hummed in acknowledgment. “ _Sounds good, Izumi._ ” she replied with a soft sigh. “ _I just hope nothing else happens between now and then._ ”

Izumi made a sound of agreement, but didn't speak. A moment later, Kaisuki could feel her walking off to somewhere. She didn't seem to be going to the kotatsu room but the Yurei didn't worry about it. The woman needed to let off some of her own pent-up emotions.

 _Four months, Sasuke,_ Kaisuki thought tiredly, her heart aching for him as she stepped outside, wishing she could've gone in to see Itachi with him. He could probably use the moral support. _Just four more months._

...

After sitting in the room with no one but his unconscious brother for a few hours, it seemed like every part of him was sore. Itachi hadn't woken up for even a second and he looked dead against the white sheets. Sakura had taken the time to explain that his brother would likely be awake within the next twelve hours, probably in under six, and that he wouldn't be able to move because of the medication in his IV.

“ _If he moves around too much, he'll wreck the damage we repaired, so we've got him medically paralyzed for the next twenty-four hours.”_

He knew the only reason his brother was alive was because ANBU wanted to get as much as they could out of him and, judging by the Wolf's terrible mood, they probably hadn't gotten anything yet. It made him feel physically ill to think about why Konohagakure's finest irou-nin (aside from the Hokage) had bothered reviving Itachi at all.

_I used to have a lot of pride in this village._

It had been four hours. He was allowed to stay until exactly an hour after Itachi woke up, and then he would never get another chance to see him and speak to him. If he left, he wouldn't be allowed back in. He didn't know what magic Kakashi-sensei had worked to get Tsunade-sama to let him see Itachi at all, but he was eternally grateful for it. Even if Kakashi-sensei was sick and tired of all four of them, he did his best for each one of them individually.

It seemed like Kakashi-sensei was the only one who was really trying at that point, despite his fatigue. He had offered a lot of things and done a number of things. He had inquired about the state of his wrists within a week of him being back, out of genuine concern. And when Sasuke had showed him the ugly scars, he'd wanted to go to Tsunade-sama but hadn't because Sasuke had asked him not to.

It seemed like Kakashi-sensei was the only person left in the village who actually cared about _Sasuke_ , and not the third teammate that completed the team, not the Uchiha Clan's legacy of producing ridiculously smart individuals, not the dangerous psychopath who had attacked Konohagakure “because he was possessed”, and not the incredibly annoying pest that just wouldn't _go away and die_.

Sasuke stared at his hands, his eyes burning. He felt hollowed out and lonelier than he had in a while. Naruto was furious with him for some reason and Sakura was just angry that Itachi had survived. Kaisuki and Kakashi-sensei had left. That just left the semi-comatose Itachi to keep him company, and only for a short while longer. It'd already been four hours. He'd probably be awake soon, and then Sasuke would have to leave an hour later.

His jaw was tight as he fought back the onslaught of misery that was coming up his throat and his eyes were beginning to water. He didn't want to have to leave so soon after Itachi woke up. He didn't want his brother to be thrown back into that prison. He didn't want to deal with his team anymore. He didn't want to have to go home alone. He didn't want to have to _be_ alone.

He didn't really want to be alive at that point.

Sasuke took in a shuddering, uneven breath and all at once his eyes were streaming tears and sobs were coming up his throat. He buried his face in his hands, trying to master himself and failing miserably. His shoulders were shaking uncontrollably and every gasping breath he took in seemed to worsen his crying fit.

Not wanting to attract the attention of the guards outside the door, he quieted his voice to near silence – something Teara had “taught” him.

“ _If you don't quiet down, I'm going to get yelled at. And if I get yelled at,_ _ **you're**_ _going to regret it.”_

He swallowed down the bile that rose up his throat at the flash of a memory that came and went. His heart was hammering away in his throat and he felt sick and the tears still hadn't stopped. Itachi was still and silent as the grave and Sasuke was caught between hoping he'd wake up soon and hoping he'd stay asleep for longer so he wouldn't have to leave.

“Fine,” he froze when he heard a hoarse voice from right next to him. He sat up, eyes wide and panicked and _horrified_ ( _oh no, oh no, no, no, go back to sleep I don't want to leave_ ) but he was so glad Itachi was awake because he could talk to him and... and...

“ _Fine.”_

Sasuke stared at him, confusion finally finding him. Itachi was staring up at the ceiling, his expression still and his eyes speaking of a great sadness that Sasuke had never seen before.

“F-... fine?” Sasuke repeated uncertainly.

Itachi didn't respond for a long, long minute. He seemed to be deep in thought, but after a while he closed his eyes again and quietly replied, “I'll... tell her.”

His mind blanked out for a moment. “You'll...”

“Yes,” Itachi said with a soft sigh. Then, in a more business-like tone, he continued, “Go and tell Tsunade-sama that I'm asking for her, but don't tell her why. I doubt anyone but Wolf will show up if you tell her that I want to unload an encyclopedia of extremely confidential information to her.”

Sasuke nodded silently, unable to speak. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming. He couldn't even tell if Itachi was really Itachi. Had attempting suicide really been the key to making him talk? If only Itachi heard about his little brother's previous attempt to end his own life. He might've decided to talk sooner.

“They said,” Sasuke spoke softly after a minute of silence. “I could only stay for an hour after you woke up. Is it... can I tell her in an hour? They won't let me back in if I leave now.”

Itachi blinked at the ceiling and the look on his face suggested that he wanted to turn and actually look at his little brother. Sasuke saw a flash of confusion and panic spark in his eyes for an instant and then realized what was happening. “It's-... your back is broken,” he quickly explained. “In... in four places. Or, it was. You're on a paralytic to keep you from re-injuring yourself.”

“Oh,” Itachi whispered, never once answering Sasuke's earlier question. Then, after a brief few seconds of thought, he asked, “How did you get them to let you in here?”

“Kakashi-sensei did that, not me,” he replied with a bitter laugh. “There's no way _I_ could've persuaded anyone to let me do anything at this point. I broke my probation in every way possible and I broke a lot of laws just by talking to you. I should probably be in prison for the rest of my life, but apparently Tsunade-sama took pity on me. I guess throwing yourself off a cliff has its perks.”

Itachi pursed his lips and closed his eyes. “Don't even say that,” he muttered. “I don't even know what I would've done if you died and I didn't.”

Sasuke looked down at his hands. “Sorry,” he mumbled softly.

“Don't apologize, Sasuke,” his older brother responded heavily. “I recognized that you weren't in your right state of mind when you visited me in prison. That's why I decided to look for you myself.”

He didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything at all, simply humming quietly in acknowledgment. The sun had risen at that point, so Tsunade-sama was probably already in her office. He'd be able to see her as soon as he was kicked out of the room. He hoped the Hokage would let him accompany her to see Itachi, but he genuinely doubted it.

He didn't really want to wait that long, though. He frowned and glanced at the clock. Almost half an hour had already passed since Itachi had woken up. He only had thirty minutes left and he didn't know what else to say. He didn't really want to start unloading his very long list of mental health problems so that Itachi would be prepared to deal with them later, but he didn't really want Tsunade-sama or someone else to be the one to tell him either. He also wasn't sure if he wanted to inquire about Itachi's life on the road, as he was sure it had been miserable.

He looked up at Itachi again. His eyes were still closed and his expression had relaxed from it's earlier look of fatigue. He seemed to have fallen back asleep and, since he had nothing further to say anyway, Sasuke silently rose. He was very careful to be as quiet as humanly possible as he crossed the room, and opened the door with equal care to ensure that it didn't make too much racket.

The guards outside the door hadn't moved from where they'd been when Sasuke had first entered. He kept his head down, closing the door behind him and walking off, heading down the hall towards the stairs. He spent the entire walk through the hospital and then down the road thinking about what he was going to say, how he was going to say it, and then questioning himself every time he came up with something. His stomach was rolling. What if she refused to listen to him? What if she refused to _see_ him? He'd caused so much trouble over the past four days, he could absolutely imagine her telling him to stop bothering her and ignore his request altogether. Itachi had asked him not to tell her why he wanted to see her, but what was he supposed to do if she refused to go?

He absentmindedly wrapped his left hand around his right forearm, running his thumb over the scabbed-over claw marks he'd left the last time he'd gone to sleep. That had been two days ago, and they still hadn't healed much. They burned like fire until they scabbed over, at which point they were more tender than he felt they had any right to be. He didn't remember the scratching hurting as much before. He didn't remember _anything_ being “as much” before.

There were more guards posted at the bottom of the stairs that led into the Hokage's office building, but they didn't say anything to him so he ignored them and headed upstairs. Anxiety was building in his stomach and it was making him feel sick. His heart was already beginning to race, and he was having difficulty remembering to breathe as he walked down the halls.

The door to Tsunade-sama's office was kept closed like every other room in the building, so he knocked on the door when he reached it. There was a lengthy pause and then he heard her - “Come in!” She sounded agitated. _Great_.

He opened the door and stepped into the room nervously, and the first thing he noticed was that Kakashi-sensei was in the room and so was the Black Ops Wolf. He froze. _That_ was not company he wanted to be in. In fact, he wasn't even sure why she'd told him to enter if she'd been busy. Someone should've been outside the door to tell him that she was talking to the Wolf.

Both Kakashi-sensei and the Wolf turned to gaze at him. He _felt_ the color drain out of his face. “What is it, Sasuke?” Tsunade-sama suddenly said, her brown eyes glaring. “I'm a little busy.”

He stiffened at her tone. She sounded even more agitated since she'd discovered who was there to see her. He wanted to say something but his heart had jumped into his throat.

“I-I'll... wait outside,” he told her tensely, backing out of the room.

“No, you won't,” Tsunade-sama snapped and he felt himself sinking into his shoulders as he stilled. “What is it? Is he dead or something?”

Sasuke opened his mouth and then closed it again, before he mutely shook his head. He didn't want to tell her that Itachi wanted to see her with the Wolf standing there. She wouldn't go. She'd send her Black Ops dogs to do it for her. And he wouldn't be able to explain that Itachi wanted to see her because he wanted to tell her something either, because then the Wolf himself would just go and who even knew what he would do to Itachi to make him tell his secret to the wrong person. Danzo would hear about it before Tsunade-sama did, and that would likely result in Itachi being killed in his cell by some faceless Black Ops mask who could easily push the blame onto someone else.

He couldn't mess up like he did every other time. He had to do it right or else... or else...

“ _What the_ _ **fuck**_ _did I tell you?” Teara's hand was fisted around his hair, tilting his head back as far as it would go. Cobalt blue eyes bore holes into him, fury coloring them even brighter than usual._

_Sasuke stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes. His nose was bleeding even though it wasn't broken and his head was pounding even though Teara hadn't even smashed his skull off anything yet and he strained against the shackles on his wrists but he couldn't break iron and Teara pulled out his knife – his_ _**favorite** _ _knife – and twirled it in his hand before settling on how he wanted to hold it._

“ _I-I didn't... I didn't...” he tried to say even as Teara was holding the sharp metal against the crook of his neck. He felt it slide along his skin and the sharp pain had him spilling words that he knew would be meaningless to that_ _ **psycho**_ _. “I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry, please don't... d-don't hurt me, Teara, please,_ _ **please**_ _...!”_

“ _If you didn't want me to hurt you, you probably shouldn't have killed your brother, you_ _ **stupid bitch**_ _.”_

“ _Sasuke_!”

He came back to reality to the sound of his name and the feeling of someone shaking his shoulders. He blinked a few times, suddenly starkly aware of how sick he felt, how much he was shaking, how fast his heart was racing, and the fact that he'd just had _another_ unfamiliar flashback. He let out a wheeze of a breath and choked on it, taking a wobbly step away from whoever had their hands on him and realizing belatedly that he clearly hadn't been breathing for a period of time.

Whoever had been holding his shoulders let go when he moved away and he looked up. It was Kakashi-sensei. He wanted to say something to his jounin instructor but he couldn't speak. He was numb, rooted to the spot, and he felt like he wouldn't be able to find his voice even if he tried.

“Are you okay?” Kakashi-sensei asked, sounding very alarmed. Sasuke blinked a few times, feeling discombobulated. “Sasuke?” He nodded after a lengthy pause in which he slowly came to realize that he'd been asked a question.

Kakashi-sensei glanced over at Tsunade-sama, who was watching the Uchiha with an unreadable glint in her eyes. Or maybe it was completely readable and he was just so messed up that he couldn't figure out what anything meant in that moment.

“Wait outside for a bit, Sasuke,” the Hokage stated with an agitated sigh. “I'll be done with these two shortly.”

Sasuke swallowed and nodded, feeling like his heart was about to stop as he turned away from Kakashi-sensei and stepped out of the room. His legs felt like jelly and he walked across the hall, leaving the door to swing shut behind him, and put his back against the wall. After about thirty seconds, he sank to the ground, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his waist and bowing his head forward until his forehead touched his knees.

He couldn't stop shaking.

.

And a good ten minutes later, he was _still_ trembling uncontrollably. He couldn't seem to make it stop. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Teara's smoldering gaze and he felt the ghost of the man's favorite knife sliding across his skin and he could hear himself pleading, crying, _screaming_. Every time he blinked he was met with another vivid picture from that day... or had it been days? Weeks? He couldn't remember.

He couldn't regulate his breathing and he couldn't calm down. He hadn't had a flashback like _that_ before. He had had terrifying ones that left a sour taste in his mouth, he'd had ones that left him breathless and mute for several minutes. He'd had flashbacks that gave him full-on panic attacks, had him swinging at people blindly because he thought he was being attacked. But none of them had... he didn't even know what his mind and body were doing. Usually the flashes of memories didn't last, they came and went quickly but left him shaken and nauseous and any other number of things.

For some reason, he couldn't seem to shake that last one off. Teara's voice was still echoing in his head. It wouldn't go away. He had a feeling he was going to have a horrible nightmare next time he went to sleep and it was making him wonder if he shouldn't try to stay awake for two days or something. Just until he forgot the memory again.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he found the room to be surprised that he hadn't started sobbing yet.

He flinched violently when he heard the doorknob turn, and looked up. The Wolf stepped out of the room first, looking down at him in such a way that he felt was probably a glare. He diverted his gaze towards the floor, sinking further into his shoulders. A second later, he heard the Wolf walk off and the door closed again, but Kakashi-sensei hadn't come out. He wondered if his mentor was speaking to Tsunade-sama about him.

He hugged himself tighter, pulling his knees even closer to his chest. He didn't want to think about something like that.

“Thank you, Hokage-sama,” Kakashi-sensei's voice floated through the door a few minutes later and Sasuke watched the doorknob turn as the jounin opened it. Almost immediately, Kakashi-sensei looked down and spotted Sasuke on the floor, and the Uchiha's response was to divert his attention elsewhere.

“Are you alright?” His mentor asked in a subdued voice. Sasuke nodded silently even know he knew that Kakashi-sensei would see through his lie in an instant. However, the jounin just sighed and didn't mention it. “Tsunade-sama is ready for you now, so you can go on in.”

Sasuke nodded and picked himself up off the ground. His legs felt wobbly and his shoulders were still trembling and his chest felt tight, but he stepped around Kakashi-sensei, catching the door when he moved out of the way.

Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything further, just started down the hall towards the exit. Sasuke stepped back into the Hokage's office, his eyes trained on the floor a few feet ahead of him. His heart was racing and his nausea seemed to only be getting worse with every passing second.

“Alright,” Tsunade-sama said in a heavy, somewhat annoyed voice. “What's the problem?”

Sasuke didn't know why she was assuming there was a problem, but he decided not to comment on it. “I-I, um...” he started and stopped when he realized how shaky his voice sounded. He still felt discombobulated. “I-Itachi asked me to... um, to tell you that he wants to s-speak to you,” he stared at the edge of Tsunade-sama's desk and swallowed hard.

“Oh really?” She replied in a dry, irate tone. “And why would that be?”

Sasuke looked up at her without lifting his head. She was gazing at him with the most humorless expression he'd ever seen on her. She never used to look at him like that when he was younger. No one did.

“He wanted to... tell you something...” He mumbled quietly. “He... he said he'll only talk to you.”

Tsunade-sama's eyes narrowed. “He'll only speak to me, hm?” She reiterated. Sasuke nodded mutely. “Explain to me why I should humor _him_ , Sasuke. I'm very curious to hear what you come up with.”

Sasuke felt a twang of weak anger and he wished he could manage a glare in that moment. He didn't say anything. It was hard to collect his thoughts, and it was even harder to turn those thoughts into something coherent. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he could tell her that wouldn't go against what Itachi had asked of him.

“ _Don't tell her why.”_

How on earth was he supposed to not tell her that Itachi wanted to tell her something, at the very least? His heart (which had already been beating rather hard) was racing even faster and it was making breathing both difficult and uncomfortable. The shaking in his shoulders was worsening as he silently panicked while struggling to find his words, and Teara's voice kept bouncing around in his head, muffling the things he was trying to think about and interrupting his trains of thought.

“Sasuke?” Tsunade-sama cut into his thoughts and he glanced up at her when he realized he'd sunk into his shoulders and dipped his head lower. She was still basically scowling at him, but it seemed that she was scrutinizing him more than glaring at him. He could practically _see_ the conclusions she was jumping to. “Did he put you up to this, or something?”

Another twang of anger sparked through him. He lifted his head and managed to muster a weak glare. He wanted desperately to summon the same kind of anger he seemed to be able to pull out of nowhere when he was a kid – when he was still possessed. He wanted to have that kind of strength again, even if it had driven him to terrible things.

His hand wrapped around his forearm, thumbing the scabs on his wrist absently through his fingerless gloves. “No,” he snapped. “He didn't. What is wrong with you people? I'm not scared of him.”

Tsunade-sama's scrutinizing expression shifted back into a glare. “Then why are you having so much difficulty talking?”

Sasuke stiffened, affronted. “Because I'm _anxious_ ,” He replied furiously. His fists clenched at his sides. Would they ever stop blaming everything wrong with him on Itachi? Half of his current issues were directly caused by the villagers and his team, not his brother. “Because you – and everyone else – don't listen to a word I say, so I always have to devise some clever way of explaining why you should!”

Those brown eyes were scrutinizing him again, obviously searching for a lie. It only made him more upset. It only exacerbated his feeling of being isolated. His eyes were burning and he fought to keep from bursting into angry tears. “I don't remember a lot of things, obviously. There are a lot of things I've made myself forgot and a lot of things I was forced to forget, but I clearly remember that _no one_ distrusted me as much as _everyone_ does now!”

He paused for a moment, breathing heavily, his lower lip trembling. Tsunade-sama looked like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure what she wanted to respond with. “You should go and talk to Itachi because it's been eight months and he hasn't spoken a word to his interrogators or anyone else, with the apparent exception of me and Kakashi-sensei, and he didn't give us any information that you would've wanted.” He continued angrily, “If you don't take this opportunity, he'll die without ever telling anyone anything interesting, because he'd rather take all of this to the _grave_ than tell it to the wrong person.”

_Sorry, Itachi._

Tsunade-sama stared at him, looking surprised. Her eyebrows slowly came together. She was still looking at him very carefully. He could see her jaw working and she was prodding her finger with the tip of a pen.

Her gaze hardened and his stomach dropped. “I'll consider it,” she replied shortly. “If that's all you wanted, I have slightly more important things to be doing than _this_.”

Sasuke stood there for about ten seconds, his heart sinking into the spot his stomach had been. His eyes were burning worse and he turned around and walked over to the door, opening it and leaving. He didn't raise his head at all the whole day down the hall. His throat felt tight and he couldn't swallow down the lump building in his throat.

He walked home in a daze, his heart rate going up with every step, and the next thing he knew he was falling into bed fully dressed and curling up into a ball. He felt like he was hyperventilating but he couldn't really hear himself breathing over the panicked thoughts racing through his head. He didn't know what to do. Tsunade-sama was probably going to tell the Wolf to go talk to Itachi, or she wasn't going to do anything at all and just throw him back in prison when he was finished healing.

His eyes welled with tears and he curled up tighter, beginning to cry. He'd messed up. He'd messed up so bad. He should've known that would happened. He should've known better than to try and do that alone. He should've expected himself to find some clever way to screw up; he always seemed to. He'd said the wrong thing and now everything was going to be _worse_. He should've just refused to tell her. He should've just said that Itachi wanted to talk to her and then said he didn't know why. He was such an idiot.

“ _ **You can't follow directions to save your own miserable life.**_ _”_

“ _Can't you do_ _ **anything**_ _right?” Teara spat, emphasizing each word separately._

_Sasuke didn't have the strength to lift his head. He wasn't sure how he hadn't passed out yet. Itachi was dead. Itachi was dead. Itachi was dead. It didn't seem real. It didn't seem possible. His heart was hammering in his throat and for a moment he wasn't sure why._

_He felt a hand wrap around a fistful of his hair and a second later he'd been yanked up off the ground. He let out a pained cry, weakly attempting to lift a hand in a pathetic attempt to get the man to let go as he tried and failed to find his feet. He couldn't get his arm all the way up. His whole body felt like jelly, everything was hurting more and more with every passing second, and he felt like he had less than no chakra._

**"You'd best be careful. Wouldn't want to end up dead, would you?"**

**"Of course not. I'll be careful."**

_He sucked in a breath, a_ _**horrified** _ _breath, because he knew that Teara would do much worse than just kill him. Killing him would be better than what that sadist would come up with. Sasuke knew that for a fact. Abruptly, Teara grabbed his throat and slammed him into the chunk of wall he'd been leaning against. All his breath left him in a wheeze and the man's grip around his throat tightened exponentially._

“ _I won't spoil it for you,” Teara snarled, blue eyes_ _ **blazing**_ _. There were shadows spiraling around them and an instant later they were in that_ _ **cellar.**_ _“I'll just tell you that I am going to_ _ **hurt**_ _you, you stupid_ _ **fucking**_ _bitch.”_

“ _ **I told you this would happen if you fucked up, you useless**_ _ **idiot**_ _ **.**_ _”_

_Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up..._

 


	16. unwanted visitors

Sasuke had actually learned a lot of things while he'd been under Teara's watchful eye.

“ _Shut_ _ **up**_ _.”_

He had learned how to silence his voice when he was in excruciating pain.

He probably wasn't quite on Itachi's level, but he could hold in his voice up to a very high threshold. He'd been carved up and beaten bloody and broken all over so many times, he couldn't have counted. And every time, Teara would reiterate that he needed to be quieter than he was already being. The man never gave a reason for it. Not a clear one anyway. He just repeatedly told Sasuke that he needed to _shut up or you'll get me in trouble._

“ _You'll do as you're told.”_

He'd also learned to set aside his pride and dignity and emotions and morals and do exactly what he was told to do without question or argument as a means of protecting himself from harm.

After two or three (or four or six, he couldn't remember) months of periodically attempting to escape Otogakure and being brutally punished for it by Teara every time, he stopped misbehaving. He stopped causing problems. He stopped trying to escape. He stopped resisting. He just did what he was told to do, no matter what. Itachi had killed hundreds of innocent people to keep a noble secret. Sasuke had slaughtered his way through dozens of villages worth of people – men, women, and children – because he was ordered to; because he was afraid of what would happen if he refused.

Teara had needed to teach him lessons, had needed to train his techniques and his skills (“you're aim is still too low, how many times am I going to have to tell you that?”) and his killing prowess (“I can tell that you came from Konohagakure.”) and his self-control (“bleed this one out in under five minutes but more than three with one strike.”). What better way to do that than to use innocent, unsuspecting civilians as target practice? (“they had no worth anyway.”)

“ _Are you honestly incapable of doing_ _ **anything**_ _correctly?”_

“ _Can you do it right this time, you dumbass?”_

“ _You fucked up big time. Do it again.”_

“ _You idiotic cunt.”_

“ _Useless_ _ **fucking**_ _**bitch**_ _.”_

He'd learned to be humble, too.

Teara never let him forget that he couldn't do anything right. Teara never let him forget that his only place in the world was where Teara told him to be. Teara never let him forget that the only reason he wasn't dead was because Teara wanted to use him as a means to an end. Teara never let him forget that his only worth was in his body and hisbloodline. Teara never let him forget that he had no business being alive. Teara never let him forget that everyone he'd ever cared about had abandoned him. Teara never let him forget that he was never going to go home again; that he never had a home to begin with.

Teara never let him forget how skilled he was with his knife, or how much pain he could inflict, or how long he could be entertained by hurting their prized _possession,_ or how deep he could sink his knife into Sasuke's flesh without killing him.

 _his nails dug into the stone floor and Teara's hand was fisted around his hair... it hurts it hurts... he could feel it ripping out of his scalp in small clumps and... please stop please it hurts... grabbing his wrist and twisting it until it_ _ **cracked**_ _... no no no no stop please_ _ **please**_ _... he couldn't breathe... pain split through him... couldn't breathe... unbearable agony... he_ screamed _._.. _a hand wrapped around his throat and squeezed... couldn't_ _ **breathe**_ _..._

“ _Shut the fuck up, you worthless_ _ **bitch**_ _.”_

He didn't even know what he was remembering anymore.

…

The list of things “wrong” with Sasuke was a lot bigger than he'd been anticipating, and he'd accounted for a lot of things, including the possession and the massacre.

Even so, he couldn't _possibly_ have expected all of what Tsunade-sama was telling him.

Her brown eyes were skirting over a file clearly labeled “U. Sasuke”. It wasn't the thickest folder he'd ever seen, but it did have some bulk to it. There were a great deal of notes and Tsunade-sama was flipping through items page by page and telling him of things she felt he ought to know about before he moved in with his little brother. He genuinely appreciated it, because he was sure that most of the things he was learning about would've never come to light if Sasuke could help it.

The Hokage had already told him of Sasuke's previous attempt to kill himself. That had been horrifying all by itself. She'd told him about the state he'd left his apartment in when he abandoned the village (“He destroyed everything he owned, blocked off all the windows and mirrors, and smashed the bulbs out of every light.”). She'd told him about his intense trust issues and his terrible sense of self-worth. She'd told him about the nearly pathological lying to keep people at a distance. She'd told him about how much Sasuke genuinely seemed to hate himself, and that had hurt Itachi's heart to hear.

_I messed up_ _**so** _ _bad..._

He was standing before the Hokage's desk, decked out in prison garb, and Madara was standing behind him, his frigid hands sitting on Itachi's injured and still very swollen shoulder. Tsunade-sama had said that she and Sakura were going to try to rehab his right arm back to a functional state, but in the meantime he needed to not use it if he could help it. There was already a sling he was supposed to wear as close to constantly as possible waiting for him on the Hokage's desk.

The ghost himself had been hovering even closer than usual since Itachi had woken up in the hospital. Madara had seen Itachi throw himself off that cliff to save Sasuke, had seen him take the impact, maybe even heard his back break. The dead Uchiha couldn't have jumped down after them – he didn't have chakra. He _couldn't_ stand on water and, despite popular culture, he couldn't fly. He could walk through solid objects and people but he didn't like to because apparently it felt strange.

So he'd been stranded at the ledge. He'd been furious with Itachi for jumping to save Sasuke, but he'd been more hysterical that he'd almost lost Itachi _again_. It had taken hours of _frozen_ physical contact and a lot of whispering back and forth (to avoid being heard by the guards outside the door) about how important Itachi was to Madara and how important Madara was to Itachi. It would probably have looked extremely intimate to someone watching from the outside. To Itachi, it was just dealing with Madara.

“Ah,” Tsunade-sama seemed to have found whatever it was she'd been looking for, and she skimmed several pages before looking up at him. “Another thing; Sasuke suffers from nightmares and night terrors and parasomnia unlike any I've ever seen,” she explained to him. “I don't know if it's improved at all since he got back from the psych ward, since he decided that he doesn't want to talk to anyone but Izumi about it and Kaisuki hasn't been in town in months, with the exception of when she showed up to help find Sasuke last week.”

“ _Saw that coming_ ,” Madara commented offhandedly. Nightmares and night terrors had been expected by both of them.

Itachi nodded. “How frequent?” He asked.

“At the time,” Tsunade-sama replied, looking over something. “He was having them every night, interchangeably. His diet suffered because he was so nauseous in the morning after his nightmares, he couldn't eat. I gather he's been skipping breakfast since shortly after the massacre.”

Madara's hand squeezed his shoulder for just a split instant and it sent a _blazing_ pain down his arm. He clenched his jaw and didn't move, didn't shift, didn't say anything. The jaw clenching could be explained away by Tsunade-sama mentioning the massacre. Anything more than that would be suspicious.

“As for the parasomnia issue...” the Hokage sighed as she continued, flipping a few pages without even looking at them. He wondered faintly how many times she'd read it. “Sasuke's nightmares and anxiety mixed pretty terribly and manifested in uncontrollable self-harming,” she told him. Itachi froze.

“ _Uncontrollable self-harming?_ ” Madara repeated after the blonde in confusion.

“What?” Itachi said disbelievingly, feeling his face drain of color. “What... does that mean?”

“He scratches his wrists until they bleed in his sleep when he's having nightmares,” the Hokage deadpanned. Itachi stared at her, horrified and terrified in the same breath. He would have to keep a _very_ close eye on that. “It doesn't happen every time he has a nightmare, but before he left the village he was doing it every couple of weeks. Once Kakashi and the Sandaime found out about it, it got a lot worse. Izumi was prescribing him sleeping medication that would prevent him from dreaming but... well, she's not around anymore, and the plants she was using apparently only grow in Tsuki no Kuni.”

Madara had become very still behind him and Itachi didn't know what to make of it. His eyes were burning. He'd messed up _so bad_. Was there even any hope of rehabilitating Sasuke, after what Itachi had done and all that his baby brother had been through? He didn't even _know_ most of what had happened. He just knew the facts that Tsunade-sama was giving him, and that wasn't enough.

“He hasn't mentioned it to anyone since he got back,” the Hokage continued after a pause. Itachi's stomach was rolling and he felt sick. “Kakashi told me he asked Sasuke how he was doing a while back and he lied, which is what he always did and always does,” she explained. “That's those trust issues; he doesn't let anyone get close enough to see that something's wrong with him.”

Itachi didn't like the way she worded that, but he didn't comment on it, just nodded. He'd have to keep an eye on it subtly, then. He was good at that. “I'll get a hold of Kaisuki,” he replied after a brief bout of thought. “And see if she can't send us something. I can give more accurate and objective reports of how he's doing to Izumi than he probably will.” Madara hummed in agreement behind him even though the Hokage couldn't hear him.

Tsunade-sama stared at him for a moment, seemingly in thought, before she looked back down at her file. “That would probably be a good idea,” she answered. “The last thing I wanted to tell you,” she snapped the folder shut and set it down on her desk. “Kaisuki gave Sasuke a bracelet that she said would prevent him from being possessed again. It'll only work if he's wearing it, and it'll only work for him. You need to make sure he's _always_ wearing it.”

In that instant, Itachi clearly saw the paranoia. He'd seen it earlier, too, when she'd been telling him about the condition of Sasuke's apartment after he'd left. Everyone was terrified that the younger Uchiha was going to turn up possessed again, so everyone was either walking on tiptoes around him or straight up treating him like he was a highly dangerous psychopath.

“ _The villagers all want me executed...”_

He nodded silently, his jaw tight. He understood at that point why Sasuke felt like he had nothing. “I'll keep an eye on him,” he promised. He didn't need to keep one eye glued to that bracelet. If he figured out which behaviors were normal based on stress levels and circumstances, he was sure he'd notice if Sasuke was possessed again. He just needed to get to know his little brother once more and then pay attention to him and the things he said and did.

“ _I'll help,_ ” Madara chimed in pointlessly.

The Hokage got up then, and he watched her grab the sling off her desk. She gestured at Wolf, who was standing by the door, and Itachi heard him walk over. Wolf was more furious than anyone else in the entire village.

It'd been two weeks since he'd told Tsunade-sama about his mission. Danzo had been relieved of his duties (which was probably at least some of the reason behind Wolf's unyielding anger), though the other two Elders remained. So far as he knew, Sasuke still hadn't been informed that he was being let out of prison that afternoon, though he doubted anyone would've told him if that weren't the case.

Wolf was basically his parole officer, because he was supposedly an “objective party”. Obviously the Black Ops lead interrogator had neglected to share his actual feelings about the Uchiha with anyone. Perhaps he'd volunteered for the job so he could keep as close an eye on Itachi as possible. Black Ops ANBU members were notorious for their trust issues and dislike of leaving things with others. They were basically trained to be that way.

Wolf stepped up beside him and Itachi lifted his hands so he could get at the shackles. He didn't look up at the Black Ops Wolf as he took off the shackles, just waited patiently in anticipation. He hadn't been outside yet. They'd transported him directly to the Hokage via an underground passage that wasn't usually used for anything. It had once been a clever escape route in case of an emergency, but newer, better ones had been thought of since then.

Itachi had been taken down there because Wolf didn't want to have to deal with the people who would see the Uchiha on the street on their way to the Hokage, and Itachi didn't blame him for it.

Once the shackles were off, Tsunade-sama started talking to him again. “Alright, this is a special sling,” she stated in a business-like fashion. “I'll show you how to put it on. You need to remember this because you won't be able to put this on yourself, so you'll have to teach Sasuke how to help you with it.”

He nodded without saying anything and simply observed as Tsunade put the sling on his arm. “It's made to redirect the weight to your other shoulder,” she explained as she tightened something. “As well as stabilize the injured one.”

Itachi hummed in acknowledgment and the Hokage looked up at Wolf. “Could I persuade you to get the other one?”

He decided in that moment that he didn't particularly like Tsunade-sama.

Wolf grunted an affirmative and stalked out of the room. He was clearly unhappy with that order. Itachi hoped he wouldn't take it out on Sasuke. His little brother didn't need anyone's nonsense, let alone _Wolf's._ He watched the Hokage walk back around to sit at her desk. She picked up Sasuke's file, opened a drawer and, after a moment of picking through whatever else was in that drawer, she placed the folder.

When she looked up again, Tsunade-sama scowled at him. “Itachi,” she began, her tone cold. “For the record, if you screw this up, you will _never_ be given another chance. So if you're planning something, you better make sure you don't get caught again.”

Itachi lowered his gaze to the edge of the desk. He knew they had every right to be paranoid, but for some reason it still stung. He'd done _all_ of the things – the _horrible_ things – that Akatsuki asked of him to protect Konohagakure. He could've handed Naruto over to them at any time. The kid had _never_ been strong enough or smart enough to take him _and_ Kisame out. He could've killed Sasuke just as easily. He could probably have killed the Sandaime Hokage back when he was younger and hadn't been hit with a terminal illness.

Everyone in the village had been and probably always would be _terrified_ of what he could do, since he'd been a child. Everyone from his schoolmates to their parents had walked on eggshells around him because they all knew he could kill them _easily_.

Even with his chakra bound, he could still wipe the floor with the vast majority of people if he had even a steak knife. Instead, he'd done everything he could for his home and worked himself to exhaustion so many times he made himself sick and lost nights and nights and nights of sleep for almost a decade and _so many_ other things. He'd almost died more times than he could count for his village and he'd been tortured by the Wolf for _months_ just to keep his secret – as was his _duty_ , and yet he was still treated like a felon and a suspect and a _villain_.

 _Well,_ he thought bitterly. _They have every right to. As far as they know, I still am a villain._

“ _Fuck_ _ **you**_ ,” Madara growled venomously, his tone clearly indicating his indignant fury. Itachi wished he'd stop. “ _You know just as well as we do that he wasn't caught. Don't kid yourself,_ _ **Hokage-sama**_.”

“I know that much, Tsunade-sama,” he stated in a subdued voice, pointedly ignoring Madara's comment. “I don't exactly expect anyone to believe me, but... I wouldn't do that to him again. He's been through more than enough.”

The Hokage was staring at him, he knew. He sighed softly and lifted his head to gaze at her. She was still glaring at him and he could tell that she was about to say something when a knock came at the door. She looked over his shoulder, clicking her tongue agitatedly as he turned partly so he could see the door.

“Come in,” she called to the people on the other side of the door. There was brief pause before the doorknob turned and the door was pushed open. Wolf walked into the room first, veering to the left to stand by the door and let Sasuke into the room.

“ _Oh my fuck,_ ” Madara breathed in shock.

Itachi didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't what he saw. Sasuke's face was _white_. The shadows under his eyes were darker than Itachi had ever seen them, and they'd been pretty dark when he'd been exorcising the younger Uchiha. There was a noticeable tremor in his shoulders and his eyes were bloodshot. Itachi could see so much raw exhaustion lining every part of his little brother's face and body, he didn't know how he was even standing.

His little brother stared at him for a long time, his eyebrows slowly coming together as he processed what he was seeing. He stepped further into the room, letting the door swing shut behind him and flinching when it slammed. Itachi watched him carefully. Sasuke didn't used to jump at loud noises.

“Ita... chi?” Sasuke whispered softly. He looked confused and his eyes kept straying from Itachi's face to the complicated sling he was wearing.

Tsunade-sama spoke before Itachi could reply. “Come here, Sasuke,” she commanded, and Sasuke looked over at her warily for a moment before he cautiously stepped up to stand beside Itachi, about two feet from the desk. “These keys are to your new apartment. It's bigger so you'll have room for the both of you.”

Sasuke blinked as he took the keys from her, looking startled. “What?” He said in shock, looking even more bewildered. “I...” he paused, opening and closing his mouth several times. Tsunade-sama looked like she was about to start questioning Itachi's honesty when Sasuke suddenly blurted out. “I thought that yesterday was a dream or a... hallucination... or something, I'm sorry,” he explained hastily. “I... I haven't been sleeping much lately, I keep... um... I mean...” He trailed off awkwardly, rubbing his forearm. “Well, it's... it's nothing... never mind.”

Madara shifted behind him and Itachi wasn't sure what he was doing. Then, the cold on his shoulder abruptly disappeared and he saw the ghost walking around the desk to stand behind Tsunade-sama. He stared at Sasuke intently, seemingly taking in every detail.

“ _No kidding on the lack of sleep, kiddo,_ ” the ghost commented in a tone that Itachi didn't know what to make of.

The Hokage didn't comment at all. She didn't even look particularly concerned with Sasuke's backtracking. Itachi, on the other hand, scrutinized his brother, a slight frown on his face. The insomnia hadn't been a joke. “This is... really...?” Sasuke still looked completely disbelieving. Itachi wondered how many times he'd had dreams of similar events. Or would they have been nightmares? His little brother turned to look at him, and Itachi met his gaze evenly.

“Would you like me to pinch you?” Itachi asked. Sasuke's eyebrows were coming together again, this time in a very clear expression of someone who was about to burst into tears. He looked like he'd been even more miserable than the last time Itachi had seen him.

“ _Itachi, your sense of humor is on point, as usual._ ” Madara remarked with a snort. He sounded agitated.

_What is your problem, Madara?_

“It's not all sunshine and daisies yet, you two,” Tsunade-sama said sternly, attracting their attention. Itachi already knew what was about to be said; she'd told him before. “Wolf.” She called, and the Black Ops interrogator could be heard approaching again. His little brother stiffened beside him and turned to watch Wolf walk towards them.

When Tsunade-sama addressed him again, he turned back to her, looking tense. “Sasuke, I'm keeping you on probation for an additional six months, which will start at the end of your first six months,” she stated. Sasuke's clenched his jaw and looked down at the desk, before nodding. Itachi could still feel his brother's shoulders shaking next to him. Why was he trembling so much?

Madara seemed to have noticed as well, if the concentrated look on his face was an indication. Or maybe he was noticing something else. Itachi couldn't be sure.

“Itachi's going to be wearing chakra-locking bracelets for the next five years, and he's on probation for ten.” Tsunade-sama continued. Itachi turned to his right, pointedly ignoring Madara's muttering, and extended his hands again for Wolf. The Black Ops interrogator roughly grabbed his wrist and clasped the first heavy, metal bracelet around it. It felt like handcuffs without the connecting chain, and Itachi felt the effects of it instantly. It was an uncomfortable feeling. He couldn't move his chakra at all. It felt almost like he didn't have any. “If he steps foot outside the village, he'll get an electric shock strong enough to stop his heart. I'm not messing around here. Don't either of you _dare_ try to make a run for it, because it'll cost at least one of your lives and likely the other's personal freedom.”

Sasuke blanched. “Isn't... isn't that a little...” He began weakly.

“No, Sasuke,” Itachi replied calmly. “It's not, all things considered. I expected this from the start.” He looked back over at Sasuke after Wolf had finished clasping the second bracelet. “Just be thankful that I'm even still alive. I'm pretty sure Wolf was petitioning for my execution.”

His little brother looked horrified. Tsunade-sama didn't help by dryly stating, “He was petitioning for much worse than that. Anyway, I'm done with you two. Here's the address to your new place.” She picked a slip of paper up off her desk and held it out for Sasuke to take, which the younger Uchiha did after a second's pause. “Do not make me regret this.”

Itachi bowed slightly in respect, “Of course, Tsunade-sama. Thank you.”

The Hokage glowered at him one last time before he glanced at Sasuke. His brother turned with him and they almost nervously crossed the room, Itachi paused to hold the door for Sasuke, and then they were walking down the hall in silence. Sasuke was still shaking beside him and he wanted to ask what was wrong but he wasn't sure if he ought to yet. He felt like he didn't really have the right. He barely knew Sasuke anymore. A lot hadn't changed, but too much had. He needed to relearn everything from his little brother's eating habits to his triggers.

So he didn't say anything. He just walked alongside Sasuke in silence, looking around at everything. Things were so different in the building since the Sandaime had died. He hadn't seen the place since he was thirteen. Tsunade-sama had redecorated thoroughly with effeminate but elegant items. She had classy tastes for a mild alcoholic.

He felt Sasuke's chakra stir beside him. So he could still sense it, he just couldn't use his own. He glanced over at his little brother out of the corner of his eye. He was wearing a look of concentration, and a moment later Itachi felt a genjutsu form around them. He didn't say anything about it. He was, in fact, thankful for it. He knew that Tsunade-sama had made a press release telling the entire village about what was going on with Uchiha Itachi, but he was sure a lot of them weren't going to believe his story, and even more of them wouldn't forgive him either way. He was probably going to be getting quite a lot of hate and abuse and fear from the villagers.

Not that he minded. He deserved significantly worse than what he had ended up getting.

They stepped outside and Itachi wanted to stop and take a deep breath of the fresh air, stare at the sky, feel the wind on his skin, but Sasuke didn't look like he was particularly interested in being outside, surrounded by people. It was late in the morning and the foot traffic was highest at that hour. Sasuke lifted the slip of paper Tsunade-sama had given them and read the address, veering towards the right as he did so.

“This place is right by where Kaisuki's apartment is... was,” Sasuke told him, backtracking on his statement to correct himself. Itachi hummed in acknowledgment. He had found himself staring at store fronts and faces and looking at everything around him. Everything seemed so colorful compared to that dark, shadowy cell.

His eyes were burning but he held in the distinct desire to cry out of relief. He couldn't have expressed in words how thankful he was to be outside again; to be out of that _cell_. Even if Wolf was still watching his every move, even if he had no access to his chakra, even if he had betrayed so many people by giving up his secret, he was thankful to be out of prison. He was thankful to have his second chance with Sasuke. He was thankful that his brother had been willing to let him try again.

He wouldn't mess up. He couldn't do that to Sasuke. Not again.

.

Itachi couldn't figure out what Madara's problem was.

It'd been five months and a week since he and Sasuke had moved in together. Madara had been fine at first, even helpful and observant. But when Sasuke's nightmares started worsening all of a sudden and Itachi started letting his little brother sleep in his room with him (which meant that Madara _couldn't_ ), the worst of the ghost's temper had started to show.

Itachi had thought he'd seen the worst of it when they'd been in that cell together. He'd thought that it would improve once they were in a less stressful environment, such as the apartment he shared with Sasuke. Instead, Madara had been growing progressively angrier. The ghost had started out just being irritable and snapping and snarling when Itachi tried to talk to him, but within the past couple of weeks that had worsened into renewed levels of violence. Hair pulling used to be as bad as it ever got, but since Itachi had been imprisoned, it had gotten worse. In prison, he would dig his fingers into bruises and broken bones. Since moving in with Sasuke, Madara had started leaving bruises of his own and dislocating joints. Itachi had wound up sending Sasuke out to get a brace for his left wrist, since the ghost had dislocated it twice in a week.

“ _Why do you need a brace?”_

“ _It's been aching a lot since prison. I think Wolf was trying to forcefully retire me in case I ever got out.”_

At first, Itachi had thought that maybe Madara had just been jealous of Sasuke. So, – in order to make everyone happy – he had started spending every waking moment that Sasuke wasn't in the house basically hanging all over Madara and letting Madara hang all over him, and then sharing his sleeping space with Sasuke almost every night, as it seemed to keep away the nightmares and night terrors. It made it almost impossible for Itachi to sleep because it was far too warm (he was used to sleeping with a large block of ice, after all) but it helped his little brother's insomnia, so he dealt with it. Sleepless nights were nothing new to him.

However, it hadn't fixed the issue with Madara, which was unusual. The ghost was usually the easiest person in the world to earn forgiveness from, at least for Itachi. They both knew they only had the other, so they didn't hold grudges against each other. For Madara to have been walking away and then disappearing for _hours_ while Itachi was in prison had been concerning all by itself.

He wanted to know what he needed to do to fix whatever was wrong, but Madara wasn't willing to have the conversation with him. If he asked what was wrong, it always dissolved into an argument that invariably ended in violence. Madara just seemed to be angry for no reason and unwilling to let go of it.

Itachi sighed. He was far too tired of life for all of the drama that his two fellow Uchiha brought to his life. He was just glad to have some space to himself for a few hours for a change. He needed the rest and rest was something he could only get when neither Madara nor Sasuke were home.

That particular morning, Sasuke had a mission debriefing with his team – something he had _not_ been looking forward to. Team 7 had been among the first to be notified of Itachi's then-impending release from prison, which had led to Naruto and Sakura deciding that they ought to stop by to convince Sasuke that he'd made a grave error. What had wound up happening was, while Itachi was in the kitchen preparing dinner and eavesdropping, Naruto had openly stated that Itachi had “probably either manipulated or threatened Sasuke into lying for him”. That had led almost immediately to a screaming match because Sasuke had punched Naruto in the face and Sakura had had something to say about it.

“ _l swear, I'll kill both of you!”_

_Itachi slammed the knife and the onion he'd been slicing up down on the counter, his lips pursed. Almost immediately, the yelling in the living room was silenced. He turned around and stalked out to the entrance into the living room, his eyes sweeping over all of the faces that were staring at him. Naruto's gaze was smoldering and Sakura had a look of icy fury in her green eyes. Sasuke looked incredibly indignant and like he was itching to start swinging again._

“ _ **Enough**_ _. If you're going to fight, go to the training grounds,” he stated darkly. Then, directly to his little brother, in a reproving tone, he added: “And Sasuke, don't threaten the lives of people you have no intention of killing. If you want anyone to take you seriously, you need to say what you mean and mean what you say.”_

Madara, on the other hand, had decided that the day before would be an excellent time to get into a shouting match with Itachi. He didn't remember what they'd been arguing about. He didn't even really remember everything that had been said. Madara had grabbed him by his bangs and slammed his head into the wall so hard he blacked out for several minutes. When he'd come to, the ghost had been gone and he had only a vague recollection of what had happened.

_Itachi could feel his mouth moving but he couldn't remember what he had said so the memory was muted. He did, however, clearly remember Madara's expression shifting in such a way that Itachi immediately knew he'd said the completely wrong thing. The ghost had_ _**never** _ _looked at him like_ _**that** _ _before._

He looked over at the clock. He ought to start dinner, so he sat up and swung his legs off the bed, rising fluidly. Almost immediately, his head throbbed harshly, but he ignored it and continued his train of thought. Sasuke wasn't due to be back for another hour and a half or more, so he'd take his time prepping the meal and start actually cooking at the half hour mark.

Itachi strode into the kitchen and started pulling things out of cabinets, and a few minutes later he was rapidly chopping through vegetables and chicken. One of the greatest things about getting out of prison was _food_. He had gone for so long without real meals, and then had started going days at a time without eating at all. He had discovered upon moving in with Sasuke that, by the time he had gotten out of prison, he'd reached the point of being about ten pounds underweight, which meant he'd lost about twenty pounds since being arrested.

He'd only found out because Sasuke had had a scale that was perfectly aligned. His little brother had admitted to keeping _very_ close tabs on his weight since before he'd originally left the village because he'd started losing pounds.

His little brother had realized that lying to him was pointless. For the most part, Sasuke was completely honest with him. There were some things he just wouldn't talk about and other things he didn't _want_ to talk about (those were the things he _always_ lied about), but he answered Itachi's questions when he asked them. Itachi had only had to catch him in a lie about a dozen times in a row before he'd just stopped lying almost completely.

“ _Are you feeling alright?” Itachi had asked just a few months ago._

“ _Yea, I'm fine.” Sasuke had predictably replied._

“ _I want you to be aware that I know you're lying,” Itachi had stated about ten seconds later as he stirred the pot of pasta he was cooking for dinner. He knew his little brother was running a fever and had woken up three or fours times in the night. “So I'm going to expect you to answer me truthfully at some point before the day is over.”_

So far, that tactic seemed to be working. If he gave Sasuke ample time to decide how he wanted to answer, he usually answered truthfully. His issue seemed to be when people sprang things on him that he wasn't ready for, because he would then panic and not know what to say, which would ultimately lead to his trademark “I'm fine”.

Itachi glanced at the clock as he finished dicing the last tomato for the stir fry he had decided on. That had taken him about half an hour, like he'd been hoping it would. He pulled a pan out, put it on the stove and turned the burner on low, slicing a chunk of butter out of the dish and dumping it onto the slowly heating metal.

He watched the butter melt, pushing it around the pan with the knife he'd been using to cover the surface evenly and letting out a long sigh. His heart was beating a fast rhythm in his chest. Madara had been gone for almost twenty-four hours. He'd been feeling anxious since about the four hour mark, but at twenty-four hours he was feeling like he was having a bit of a panic attack. He kept it under wraps because he didn't know when Sasuke would be back, but the fact of the matter was that he felt physically ill, and it wasn't just his stomach that was bothering him.

He pressed a hand to the back of his head. He'd had a low grade headache almost constantly since Madara had smashed his head into the wall, and it was at its worse when he got up after laying down or spent more than about ten to twenty minutes reading. He was sure he was concussed, and he probably ought to mention it to one of his assigned irou-nin but he didn't know how he could _possibly_ explain away a concussion without using some form of fighting as an excuse.

He wasn't allowed to fight unless he could prove self-defense, which wold require blaming someone else. He wasn't about to blame Sasuke or his teammates (not that anyone would believe him over them), and there wasn't anyone else in the village who would be _able_ to position themselves in such a way that gave them an opportunity to hit him that hard.

He was about to dump the chicken in the pan when there was a sharp knocking at the door. He looked over his shoulder, eyebrows coming together. For whatever reason, ANBU had decided that it would be best if Itachi wasn't able to sense chakra from inside the apartment, so that he couldn't be prepared if they showed up looking for him. They had also gotten a door without a peep hole. The whole setup was incredibly inconvenient and _thoughtless_.

Itachi waited a moment and there was another set of knocks. He pursed his lips. He genuinely hoped that wasn't Naruto, Sakura, or Wolf. He hadn't done anything that would warrant a visit from Wolf and that interrogator only came over once a week unless something was wrong, so that didn't make sense. Naruto and Sakura had only stopped by three times – once to fight with Sasuke, once to threaten Itachi while Sasuke wasn't around, and once to get Sasuke for a debriefing he'd forgotten about. Considering the fact that Sasuke was _with_ his team, the chances of it being Naruto and Sakura were pretty low. He turned the burner off, rinsed and dried off his hands speedily, and then made his way over to the front door.

He unlocked the three locks – one had come with the door and Sasuke had bought another two – and pulled the door opened.

“Can I-...” he began, but his voice died in his throat.

“Good evening, Itachi,” Teara greeted, placing his hand on the door frame and leaning in far too close. “May I come in?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you all probably know by now, I tend to get quite depressed in the winter. This has not changed. A lot's been going on, most of it stuff that is 10000% none of your business. All I'll say is that it's been very stressful in my and my sister's household and that stress has triggered a pretty gnarly depression episode. I don't know when I'll be able to get back to writing but I've written up to chapter 22 (and about half of 23), so there'll be at least a little while before I have to go on a hiatus, assuming I have to at all. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience, guys. I know I've been hella lame lately and I apologize for that. With that said, I hope you have a great end to your year. Especially since 2017 is probably going to be a shit show. :D


	17. guilty until proven innocent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY. I know I've missed the last two updates and I am SO sorry about it :( I didn't actually realize that I'd forgotten to post chapters this month DDDDD: Anyway, the schedule continues :( I have only finished up to chapter 22 so you may have to sit through a hiatus relatively soon :( :( :( :(

He genuinely wished he could get away with just quitting the team, but continuing to work with Team 7 was part of the terms of his probation. If he'd known it was going to be so miserable, he would never have agreed to it, and if he could quit at that point, he would.

“So, we'll be leaving five days from now, between mid-morning and mid-afternoon, depending on when the organ donor kicks it,” Kakashi-sensei concluded the briefing, rolling up the scroll he'd been reading off. “We'll meet at the hospital at eight in the morning. If you're not there when it's time to go, we're leaving without you. That goes for all of you. Sakura, you are required to be there, since you're the one leading the transplant.”

Sakura nodded from where she was sitting atop one of the thick posts. “Yea, I know. I'll probably be there first, to be honest.”

Naruto snorted. “Of course you will.”

Sakura punched him lightly in the arm and Naruto laughed. Sasuke didn't speak. He hadn't spoken since he'd gotten there. He had nothing to say to them. Kakashi-sensei and he were on speaking terms, but he tried to avoid talking around Sakura and Naruto. The three of them fought almost every time they exchanged words, and Sasuke was tired of it. He was done dealing with their suspicions about Itachi and their paranoia about himself. He was just _done_ with all of it.

“Alright, then that's a wrap,” Kakashi-sensei stated. “You're all free to go. Five days from now, eight in the morning. Don't be late.”

Sasuke straightened up from the post he'd been leaning against as Sakura dropped off her post and walked over to Naruto. The two of them always left together. Sasuke was reasonably certain that they were secretly an item. They weren't very good at faking a platonic relationship. He watched them chuckle about something before Naruto turned towards the other half of the team and waved briefly. Before Sasuke could even have decided to wave back, the duo had turned away again and were walking away.

“Sasuke,” he looked over at his jounin mentor tiredly. Every time he saw Naruto and Sakura, he found himself inexplicably exhausted, whether they'd been fighting or not. “Did you want me to walk you home, or are you alright today?”

He briefly considered going home alone, but the thought of it made his stomach twist. The sun was setting. He didn't want to be walking home alone at night, and it had nothing to do with him being afraid of being jumped. The concept of being jumped didn't worry him.

What worried (or rather, terrified) him was the darkness itself.

He looked towards the ground. Kakashi-sensei sighed softly, but it wasn't an annoyed sigh. He just sounded sad. “Alright, no problem. Let's go, shall we?”

Sasuke nodded. “Yea,” he mumbled in response. They turned towards the side of the village that Sasuke and Itachi's apartment was on and started walking, picking up a trail that would drop them nearby.

“ _You're so_ _ **annoying**_ _.”_

He felt like such a bother. He was sure Kakashi-sensei had things to do. He was sure his jounin mentor would rather not walk down the street with Konohagakure's second most hated resident. It would only make them grow to be suspicious of Kakashi-sensei as well. He was sure of it. He was tarnishing the man's reputation simply by being a member of his team.

“I'm sorry for always making you do this,” Sasuke quietly said. “I'm sure you have better things to do.”

“Sasuke,” Kakashi-sensei said heavily. “It's not like I feel obligated to you. I walk you home because I know it helps you feel secure. Security is something I've been trying to give to you since before you left the village, and if that means walking you here and then back home every time I call us together, I'm fine with that. It's the least I can do.”

Sasuke nodded silently. He didn't really feel any better. He still felt like a nuisance. He'd been feeling like a nuisance since he'd gotten back and seen how his team had gone to shambles. Kaisuki hated one of her closest friends, Naruto hated his _best_ friend, Sakura had become bitter and resentful, and Kakashi-sensei looked like he'd aged about ten or fifteen years. He'd single-handedly _destroyed_ Team 7.

The rest of the walk back to town was in silence. By the time they reached the streets of the village, the sun was gone and the night life was starting to come out of the wood-works. Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his head down, ignoring the people looking his way. He could hear people talking and he tried not to think about how they might be talking about him. He tried not to think about what they were saying. He really didn't want to know.

“How has Itachi been doing?” Kakashi-sensei suddenly asked, surprising Sasuke thoroughly. He looked at his jounin instructor, eyebrows coming together. Kakashi-sensei had yet to ask about Itachi. He had yet to see or speak to Itachi. Sasuke didn't talk about his brother unless he was asked to by someone he cared to answer.

Kakashi-sensei glanced at him briefly before returning his attention to the road ahead of him. “I know Naruto and Sakura spoke to him a few weeks ago, and I've been meaning to ask you how he's adapting.”

Sasuke almost stopped walking. “ _What_?” He said, fury finding him immediately. “When? Why?”

The jounin looked at him again. “Itachi didn't tell you? This happened just two or three weeks ago. I guess they wanted to pretend they were threatening to someone like him.”

Sasuke's stomach dropped. Why hadn't Itachi told him about it? He looked down at the ground, his fists tightening in his pockets. “Did they tell you?”

Kakashi-sensei nodded. “They told me yesterday, or the day before, I believe,” he replied. Sasuke clenched his jaw. “They were reluctant to tell me how the conversation went, but I got the impression they were telling him that they'd flay him alive if he did anything horrible to anyone, or something along those lines.”

“I hate them both,” he muttered more to himself than to Kakashi-sensei. The jounin was looking at him but he didn't return the man's gaze.

There was a pause before Kakashi-sensei replied. “To be honest,” he stated in a tired voice. “I don't blame you. I'm not exactly fond of them anymore, either, but I understand them even though they're being stupid. As far as either of them is concerned, it's Itachi and Kaisuki's and everyone else's fault that you wound up...” _Becoming such a disastrous problem._ “Well, here.”

“ _If you weren't such a_ _ **worthless**_ _excuse for a human being, you wouldn't have wound up_ _ **here**_ _, now would you? You have no one to blame for your current situation but yourself, you pathetic little_ _ **bitch**_ _.”_

Sasuke's eyes were burning and his stomach had begun to roll. His fury had quickly dissipated, leaving a hollow feeling in his chest where it had been. Every time he got angry about something, Teara was informing him he had no right to be. Every time he got upset, Teara told him he was pathetic and stupid and worthless and no one cared about him anyway. Every time he was in any kind of good mood for any reason, Teara was reminding him that he had nothing and no one and he would always have nothing and no one.

He slowed to a stop, his eyes stinging fiercely and his shoulders shaking. He could feel Kakashi-sensei's eyes on him, so he knew that the jounin had to have stopped.

“Can't I just... quit the team?” He quietly asked.

He saw Kakashi-senesi's feet and then legs come into his field of vision, but he didn't look up. “Sasuke,” the jounin stated. Sasuke didn't move and most certainly didn't look up, and his instructor sighed sadly. Kakashi-sensei never tried to force him to make eye contact at that point. He seemed to understand that, most of the time, Sasuke _couldn't_ make eye contact.

“ _Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you,_ _ **bitch**_ _.”_

“It's part of your probation terms for you to be on the team,” Kakashi-sensei stated, and Sasuke felt him deflate almost immediately. His chest felt tight and his throat was closing up and his eyes were beginning to water just a little. “And we have a mission coming up.”

“But...” he began, but Kakashi-sensei cut him off.

“Let me finish,” the jounin said. “ _But_ , if you still feel that way after this mission is over, I'll talk to Tsunade-sama about it. Do you want to switch assignments or would you rather just quit doing the whole “missions” business altogether? I can ask her about other options, too, and get back to you on that, if you like.”

Sasuke lifted his head just slightly, just enough so he could see Kakashi-sensei's face. He looked sad, but he also looked dead serious. “I could... do that?”

“If Tsunade-sama agrees to it, yes,” Kakashi-sensei reiterated. Sasuke paused for a moment, before he nodded stiffly.

“Could you ask her about... it?” His voice was so quiet, he wasn't sure if the silver-haired man had heard him, but. Kakashi-sensei hummed an affirmative right away, no hesitation. Sasuke's eyes were brimming with tears but he struggled to hold them in. He wasn't about to start bawling on the street. _No._

“Of course,” his instructor responded sincerely. “Now, come on. It's getting late and I'm sure Itachi's made dinner by now, right?”

Sasuke lifted his head a bit but didn't make contact, and nodded silently. Kakashi-sensei turned as he started walking again, falling into step beside his subordinate. They continued on in renewed silence, and Sasuke wondered if Kakashi-sensei had been holding on to the fact that there were other options besides sticking with Team 7. Had he seen Sasuke's request to quit the team coming from a mile away? He couldn't imagine how the jounin would've missed it. He'd been wanting to ask for weeks and had simply been too afraid.

“ _You're a coward and a weakling and, honestly, I don't know why I keep you around. There are other, more competent people I could use. You're just_ _ **convenient**_ _.”_

He swallowed hard as his stomach twisted into a knot. His flashbacks had been getting worse and worse and more and more frequent since shortly before he'd jumped off that cliff. In the past two or three months, they'd been as bad as they'd _ever_ been. It seemed like every little thing triggered a new memory. He didn't even know how there was still so much he could still _be_ remembering. Hadn't he been unconscious for the vast majority of those three years?

_When he got there, Teara was the only..._

“ _Where is...?”_

“ _Ha, you don't need worry about that, princess._ _ **I'll**_ _be looking after you.”_

Something was nagging at the back of his head but he ignored it. He didn't want to know whatever his brain was about to tell him. He knew that much without having to ask anyone. The less he remembered the better. He didn't really care if there was information there that he needed or could've used. He didn't want to know. He didn't.

He looked up, spotting his turn a few yards away. “Do you mind if I stop in for a few to speak to your brother?” Kakashi-sensei suddenly decided to ask. Sasuke looked over at him, alarmed.

“Why?” He immediately wanted to know. After hearing about what Naruto and Sakura had done, he felt suspicious, even though it was almost definitely unwarranted. Kakashi-sensei had been the one to tell Itachi when he'd gone missing almost six months ago, so clearly he was putting more faith in the older brother than everyone else (with the exception of Sasuke himself).

The jounin looked at him, his one visible eyebrow raised. “I'm wounded, Sasuke, I really am.” He stated in a mock-hurt voice. “I haven't spoken normally to Itachi since he was thirteen. We were both enlisted in Black Ops at the same time and we wound up becoming friends for a while there, until I dropped out of ANBU altogether. Didn't see him anymore after that, and then he left the village. I wouldn't mind starting to talk to him again.”

Sasuke stared. Kakashi-sensei and Itachi had been friends? How had he never heard of that? “I didn't know you two were friends,” he replied in disbelief. “I had never even _seen_ you before.”

Kakashi-sensei chuckled. “Well, it's policy that Black Ops shinobi don't get to visit each other's homes. What happens at work, stays at work,” he explained. “It's to prevent people's families from hearing things they shouldn't hear, and from enemies figuring out who's friends with who.”

Sasuke nodded. That he did recall. Itachi had _never_ brought anyone from ANBU home with him. So far as Sasuke had known, his brother never spoke to anyone outside of the Uchiha Estate. “Oh,” he replied. Then, after a brief pause, he added, “I don't mind if you come in. It'd probably do him some good to talk to someone other than me. He rarely leaves that apartment.”

Kakashi nodded, “I don't blame him, all things considered.”

Sasuke didn't really want to reply to that, so he didn't. He just hummed in agreement and fell silent after that. He'd never seen Itachi interact with anyone outside of family in a way that was less than professional. He couldn't really imagine Itachi with friends. Even Shisui had rarely visited – Itachi always went out to meet up with him, and then they would disappear for half a day.

He pulled his key out of his pocket absentmindedly as he walked up to the door, glancing around briefly before sliding it into the keyhole. Immediately, he got the _worst_ gut feeling, as though something truly horrible was waiting just on the other side of the door. His first thought was that something had happened to Itachi, that something was really wrong, but the thought that came seconds after that was completely self-centered.

_I need to get out of here._

If he hadn't been living with his brother, he would've listened to himself. As it was, he knew Itachi was inside – there was nowhere else for his brother to be aside from the store, and Itachi didn't _ever_ go out unless he could tell Sasuke he was leaving. Therefore, his older brother _had_ to be in there. If something was wrong and he listened to his gut and just ran away, something terrible could happen to Itachi. He could be being killed in that apartment for all Sasuke knew.

“Sasuke?” Kakashi-sensei's voice cut into his thoughts and he blinked several times. His hand was white-knuckled around the doorknob and his other hand was still clutching the key, but he hadn't unlocked the door. He felt like he was rooted to the spot. “Is something wrong?”

His heart was hammering away in his throat and a slight tremor had started in his shoulders. He'd never had a bad feeling _that_ strong. What was wrong? Who was in his apartment? Was Itachi alright? Was Itachi _alive_?

“I just...” he said slowly, uncertainly. He wanted to pull away from the door but he didn't let himself. “I have a really bad feeling, all of a sudden.”

Kakashi-sensei stilled beside him. “A bad feeling?”

“A _really_ bad feeling,” he replied, swallowing hard. His jounin instructor shifted beside him and Sasuke braced himself as best he could and turned the key. His hands were shaking so bad, he almost couldn't make them function.

He silently turned the doorknob and pushed the door open slowly. He didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't sense Itachi's chakra because of those bracelets, so that was normal. He also didn't sense anyone else in the apartment, so what on earth had happened? Had his brother committed suicide? Or had he just cut his thumb really bad while making dinner and fainted?

He pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside, still not making a sound. The living room opened up to his left, and Itachi wasn't in there. He was probably in the kitchen, then.

“What is _that_ supposed to mean?” Itachi's voice floated out of the kitchen, sounding tense.

He froze. Itachi was talking to someone, so someone else _was_ in the apartment. It sounded like his brother wasn't happy with his company, either. There was no reply to Itachi's question and Sasuke was terrified but he didn't really have any options in the matter. He stepped across the threshold into the apartment and slowly walked around the wall that blocked the view into the kitchen, Kakashi-sensei right behind him.

He spotted Itachi as an afterthought. His brother was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, eyes on Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, face _white_ , expression horrified. He could almost see him grasping for words, but Sasuke wouldn't have heard what he said over the pounding of his heart anyway.

Teara's expression was still, but Sasuke could see _blazing_ irritation in his blue eyes. The white-haired man straightened up from where he'd been half-sitting on the edge of the dining room table and Sasuke flinched back violently and felt his back hit Kakashi-sensei. The jounin was stiff as a board and Itachi was standing on the _other side_ of Teara, so Sasuke couldn't get to him and escape.

…

“It's like you put so much _fucking effort_ ,” Teara spat at Itachi's little brother, “into being _such_ a pain in my ass.”

Itachi's gaze immediately moved to the white-haired man, alarmed. Why was Teara talking to Sasuke like _that_? He hadn't realized that they knew each other, and judging by the look on Sasuke's face, it wasn't on friendly terms. In fact, if he were to make an educated guess, he would imagine that Teara had to have done something _horrible_ to his little brother, and the thought made him physically sick.

His little brother's face was ashen and his black eyes were wider than Itachi had _ever_ seen them. His whole body had gone rigid and he was shaking from head to toe. He hadn't looked at Itachi for a second, as his eyes were glued to Teara. Itachi wanted to say something to get him to relax, to diffuse the situation, but he _no idea_ what he could _possibly_ say in his current circumstances to excuse the fact that he'd been having a perfectly civil conversation with someone who had clearly _traumatized_ his brother at some point.

Kakashi-san was behind him, which genuinely made everything worse. His one visible eye was narrowed, going back and forth between Itachi and Teara and likely jumping to ever possible _wrong_ conclusion under the sun. He _knew_ that he was about to get into a _lot_ of trouble. He already knew that Teara wasn't someone that Konohagakure's brass would consider “good company”. He didn't have to be told that. But it wasn't like he'd had any options in the matter; his chakra was sealed and Teara could _kill_ Saeka, whom Itachi could _never_ have bested in a fight and he'd been given several opportunities to.

“ _I can always force my way in and beat the shit out of you, if you'd like. Then you won't get in trouble for having me over.”_

He didn't want to be in a position of being _completely_ helpless around the likes of Teara, so it was honestly in his best interests to avoid getting into a fight with the man. At least until he had his chakra back, and who even knew what _that_ would be? As it was, he knew he'd be completely defenseless if everyone started fighting in his kitchen, and the fact was a little nerve-wracking for him.

“What's going on, Itachi?” Kakashi-san asked him directly, his voice icy. Itachi opened his mouth to speak but Teara started talking before he could.

“I needed to talk to him,” the white-haired man stated as unhelpfully as _possible_. “So I figured I'd... stop by."

It didn't escape Itachi's notice the way Teara trailed off briefly, or the way he seemed to be staring at Sasuke even though he was talking to Kakashi-san. He reached out across the counter to left, groping around for only a second before finding the large knife he'd been using to chop up his stir fry ingredients. His heart was hammering in his throat. He didn't know what was going to happen in the next few minutes, but he wasn't about to be caught off guard. He wouldn't jump to conclusions and act too early, but he was going to analyze every shift in Teara's person and _wait_.

"Not even a year?" Kakashi-san deadpanned, clearly speaking to the older Uchiha in a voice betraying his fury. "Are you aiming to be executed before the New Year?"

The jounin was watching Itachi very carefully, looking like he was fully expecting the older Uchiha to jump to Teara's defense or something since he'd armed himself. Itachi met his gaze for a moment, picking out anger, betrayal (strangely), suspiciousness, a hint of fear that was likely for Sasuke's safety.

"Kakashi-san, I'm only going to remind you of this once," Itachi ground out in reply. Teara was being very still, but Itachi couldn't see his face. He was reasonably certain that he was openly staring at Sasuke, just judging by his little brother's ashen complexion and the fact that his gaze was still fixed on the white-haired man. "These bracelets are for more than just decoration. I can't exactly just throw him out whenever I want. I couldn't even throw _you_ out if I wanted to."

Kakashi clearly didn't believe that Itachi was that innocent and was additionally noticeably offended. The jounin glowered at him and Itachi was sure he was searching for a lie. He found himself wishing that he was the kind of person people could get an accurate read on. He'd have liked for Kakashi-san to be able to recognize that he wasn't the enemy in the situation.

Itachi was almost startled when Teara began speaking again because of the man's tone and who he was addressing.

"Come here."

It was a command clearly meant for Sasuke, but it was spoken in much the same way one would speak to a dog that was in trouble. The white-haired man had tensed his fingers, slowly curling them partway to a fist. His breathing pattern had changed to one suggesting agitation and Itachi watched his baby brother's face turn the color of sour milk. Kakashi-san was glaring at Teara, but he couldn't see Sasuke's face - he couldn't see that the younger Uchiha was going to follow the command and Itachi wasn't in a position to get between his brother and his unwelcome guest.

"Unless, of course," Teara continued darkly, "you'd _like_ me to show the class just how loud I can make you scream. Not like the neighbors'll hear it."

That was all it took. Sasuke's face became somehow even whiter and he shakily strode forward, clearly acting on autopilot. Kakashi-san didn't see it coming at all and by the time he'd reached out to grab Sasuke, the youngest Uchiha had taken a good two strides forward and was able to easily slip out of his jounin instructor's grip before he could tighten it. Itachi adjusted his hold on the knife in his hand, moving it into a more battle-ready position.

Sasuke had stopped within arm's length of probably the most dangerous person Itachi had ever met. He understood that his little brother was _terrified_ of the man, but he wished he'd been willing to just stay with Kakashi-san. At the very least, the jounin could get him out of the apartment and therefore out of harm's way. Things presently couldn't _get_ much worse without further violence.

Teara's hand twitched visibly and he shook it out inconspicuously, but Itachi noticed the action. He didn't think Kakashi-san could've seen it, but he had definitely noticed it. A moment later, he saw the white-haired man's hand begin to come up. Sasuke noticed the movement right away and Itachi watched him shut his eyes and hunch his shoulders, hands spasming at his sides.

Sasuke knew Teara better than Itachi did; if he was reacting like _that_ , he was expecting to be hit.

In an instant, the scene in the room changed. Sasuke had stiffened and braced himself, but Teara's hand stopped about a foot shy of side of his head. Itachi himself had gotten there much faster, crossing the room in two steps and swinging the knife at Teara's throat with speed and precision rivaled by few, stopping just short of actually making contact.

Kakashi-san had halted from what appeared to have been an attempt to be useful, but he had a kunai clutched carefully in one hand, something wrapped around the hilt of it. Itachi only had to glance at it for a split second two times before he recognized what it was. Wolf had given a select few people a specific kunai that would alert him if they drew it, and they were only supposed to draw it when Itachi was "misbehaving", as he'd put it.

His heart stuttered but he blocked out the rush of anxiety and concentrated on his task; getting rid of his unwanted guest.

" _Enough_ , Teara," Itachi addressed in a warning tone. "Leave my brother alone."

From the angle he'd moved to, he could see Teara's face. The man was still staring at Sasuke, his murderous expression full of contempt and disgust. Itachi wasn't even sure he'd been heard until his smoldering blue gaze slowly slid over to gaze at him. A visible, black aura was beginning to radiate off Teara's pale skin. It felt like the temperature in the room was dropping and the shadows seemed to get darker.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry," Sasuke's voice attracted Itachi's attention. His black eyes were _so_ wide and they were brimming with panicked tears. He'd slid a foot back, hands clenched into loose fists and held against his chest, looking like he wanted nothing more than to run away but was too terrified to. "I-I'm..."

Before Sasuke could continue, Teara abruptly pulled his hand back a couple of inches and smacked him upside the head, clearly just hard enough to hurt. "Shut _up_ ," the white-haired man spoke in a tone Itachi couldn't place but didn't like, "you _stupid_ _bitch_."

Sasuke's shaking worsened and he dipped his head forward, hunching into his shoulders even more and nodding mutely. Itachi opened his mouth to issue his final ultimatum before he went about trying to actually kill the man when a loud banging at the door startled him.

That would be Wolf.

Teara dropped his hand, taking a few steps back from where the two Uchiha were standing. "Well, it's been swell. Don't forget what I said, Itachi. Oh, and, uh," his face split into a wide smirk, his eyes fixing on Sasuke again, "it's _very_ pretty, but I think it'd look better on my floor."

The white-haired man winked, a dark shadow opening up beneath him. A moment later, he dropped through the floor. Sasuke let out a breath in a wheeze as soon as he was gone and Itachi was about to do much the same when the front door slammed open with enough force to suggest that it had been kicked down.

He whirled around as Wolf came around the corner and stiffened, dropping the knife out of his hand immediately and putting his hands up as the interrogator approached. He didn't resist when Wolf pointedly grabbed his injured arm first and twisted it behind his back, even though it sent a surge of pain through half his torso. He would tell them everything they wanted to know (for the most part) if for no other reason than to avoid being _interrogated_ , but he didn't think they were going to believe him at all.

Wolf grabbed his injured arm again, this time by his elbow, and yanked him into motion (which hurt quite a lot), coming to a brief stop by Kakashi-san. "So, what'll it be?" His handler sounded almost pleased, and it made Itachi's stomach roll.

"Assuming he's lying," Kakashi-san replied, his tone cool. It seemed like no one in Team 7 liked Wolf, but everyone appeared to be perfectly fine with being civil with him if it meant that someone was bullying the older Uchiha appropriately. "Pretty sure it'd be conspiracy."

Itachi stared at Kakashi-san, eyes widening in despaired shock. _Conspiracy_? Had he not been paying any attention _at all_ to what had just occurred? Or was he just as hellbent on getting rid of Itachi as the rest of Team 7 and basically everyone else?

"Oh?" Wolf curiously mused. Itachi could feel the Black Ops interrogator's eyes on him but he didn't look over.

He just stared at Kakashi-san with an expression set in a betrayed glare. "I'm not lying," he deadpanned, wondering if anyone else had heard the slightest hint of a tremor in his voice. He certainly hoped not. If anyone needed to _not_ know that Itachi was somewhat terrified of seeing them, it was Wolf.

The grip on his elbow tightened as Wolf scoffed, "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

As Itachi was being led out the door, he caught sight of Sasuke. His little brother was staring at him, eyes brimming with tears that started to fall as soon as their eyes met. He hoped that his sibling could, at the very least, see that he hadn't betrayed him like _everyone else_ seemed to think.

The older brother hoped they'd bring him back. He didn't want to think of what Sasuke might do if they decided to just kill him.

…

When Itachi wasn't home after almost six hours, Sasuke started to get anxious.

He was curled up on the armchair, which he'd turned so he could see out into the hall. His tremors hadn't gone away. He didn't believe for a second that Itachi was _actually_ working with Teara on something, but there was a nagging, anxious voice in the back of his head that kept asking him why Teara had showed up. He hadn't even realized that the two knew each other and he didn't know how long they'd known each other.

His heart rate kept rising and falling as he went in and out of anxiety attacks. There were so many catastrophes his mind was jumping to.

_What if he's possessed?_

_What if he's secretly feeding them information?_

_What if he's being threatened and can't say anything?_

_What if Teara comes back?_

…

“You still want to stick with that story?”

Itachi gritted his teeth, eyes watering. He could feel his wrists starting to burn against the quickly heating metal of the brand new shackles Wolf had had someone make for him. “ _Yes_ ,” he forced out, breathing heavily. “I _told_ you-...”

There was a crack that he didn't even know the origins of immediately, before _blinding_ pain erupted in his right shoulder. It was broken. He didn't need to do any special tests to know that, he'd had enough bones broken to recognize the sound of it. He let out all the air in his lungs in a harsh wheeze, started gasping and coughing uncontrollably. He could feel the shackles getting progressively warmer, and within about thirty seconds it was actively _melting_ his skin and the set of sounds that came up his throat then were undignified, to say the least.

…

After twelve hours, Sasuke was actively panicking and no longer had any control over his hysteria.

He tried to remind himself over and over that he didn't know what had happened so he ought to not jump to conclusions, but it was nearly impossible. Every time he tried to tell himself that maybe Teara had just shown up to threaten Itachi and they had nothing really to do with one another, that white-haired man's voice was snarling at him, invisible grip squeezing his throat so hard he couldn't breathe.

“ _Itachi_ _ **abandoned**_ _you.”_

He had found himself in Itachi's room, curled up in his brother's blanket, _sobbing_ for a good forty-five minutes before he'd passed out for a couple of hours. When he'd woken out of a fit of a nightmare and saw the time, it had just started the process all over again.

…

Wolf unclasped one of the shackles and ripped it off his wrist, taking up chunks of skin with it. Itachi swore fluently at him before he could stop himself, and the interrogator's natural response to that was to drive his fist into Itachi's broken collarbone.

Before any sound could come up, Wolf's hand was wrapped around throat and squeezing until he couldn't breathe. “Don't test your luck,” Wolf growled. “I'm not done with you yet.”

Itachi sucked in a sharp breath and started coughing harshly when the masked man relinquished his grip. Were they going to kill him or not?

…

The sound of the door opening startled him awake.

Because he was an anxious mess, his first thought was to assume that it was Teara, which had him frozen in the dim light from the lamp beside him. His heart beat thunderously in his chest as he listened to the door close, and then the distinct sound of someone taking off their shoes reached him. They were moving _very_ slowly, and that alone convinced him that it had to be Itachi.

He rose silently and crossed the room, stepping out into the hall. Itachi was facing the door, using it to hold himself upright as he pulled his other shoe off. The article dropped to the floor and he straightened up.

“I-Itachi?” Sasuke finally managed to say, and he immediately regretted it. Itachi jumped visibly and turned around, eyes wide in surprise. He pressed a hand to his chest, letting out a breath.

“Don't scare me like that,” he all but whispered, taking a wobbly step forward and heading down the hall. Sasuke watched him wander into the bathroom, listened to the sound of the sink turning on. When he got over to the bathroom door, his brother was rinsing his long hair in the sink. The water ran red right away and Sasuke's stomach twisted into a knot. He could see numerous stains in his clothes and splatters of blood were crusted in some points on his skin. They'd really been torturing him for _hours_.

“Are you... are you alright?” Sasuke asked tentatively. “You... were gone for a long time.”

“Twenty-six hours... and thirty-eight minutes,” came the tired, shaky reply that didn't answer his question. Itachi turned the sink off and straightened up partway, grabbing a towel blindly and using it to start toweling his hair off. He straightened up the rest of the way as he did so and looked down at himself, eyeing the very visible stains all over his clothes.

Sasuke met his gaze when he looked up for only a split second before he glanced away. Itachi cleared his throat, “Do you mind?”

He blinked and then realized what his brother meant. “O-oh, yea, sorry,” he mumbled, stepping out of the room and pulling the door shut.

“You don't have to close it all the way,” Itachi's voice floated out before he'd shut the door and Sasuke paused. He sounded vaguely needy. “I'm not showering, I'm just taking off these clothes.”

He hummed in acknowledgment. “You're not showering?”

“I don't have the energy right now,” his brother replied. Sasuke heard several garments fall to the floor before the sink turned on again. “I'm tired. I just want to sleep.”

“Oh,” he replied quietly. “I made your bed already.”

“You did?” Itachi returned, and Sasuke hummed an affirmative. He heard an audible, relieved sigh. “ _Thank you_ , Sasuke.”

He felt his cheek flush. “Y-yea, no problem,” he answered awkwardly. They fell silent for a moment, Sasuke just listening to the faucet running. He looked at the door, frowning to himself. “I... I know it's late, and you're tired and all, but...” he was quiet for a moment, palms starting to sweat. “Why was _he_... here?”

Just asking made his heart rate skyrocket.

Itachi was quiet for a long moment. “Before I answer that, may I ask a question of my own?” His brother requested. Sasuke felt the color drain from his face.

“U-um...” he stammered hesitantly. He knew what Itachi was going to ask him and he didn't really want to answer, but he didn't know if his brother would tell him what he wanted to know if he refused.

“Sasuke,” the door to the bathroom opened and Sasuke stepped out of Itachi's way so he could start towards his room to get a change of clothes. “Whatever may have happened, I won't judge you for it. I could tell just by your behavior that you are _terrified_ of him. I just want to know why.”

Sasuke hesitated for only a moment before he trailed after his older brother, staring at the floor. Itachi had asked exactly what he'd expected him to ask, but that didn't make answering any easier. Teara had done a lot of things. A variety of things. He'd had a dozen and a half flashbacks just standing in the kitchen for fifteen minutes with him. He had remembered things he didn't want to remember.

“ _Where is Orochimaru?”_

“ _Ha, you don't have to worry about that, princess,” Teara drawled. It was then that Sasuke noticed the blood caked under the white-haired man's nails. “_ _ **I'll**_ _be taking care of you.” His stomach plummeted. Why had he left Konohagakure in the first place?_

He swallowed again. Nausea was building in his stomach again. Just thinking about it was reminding him that he'd just seen Teara a few hours ago all over again. “H-he...” He started and stopped, his heart hammering in his throat. He didn't really want to talk about it. At all.

The door to Itachi's room opened rather suddenly and he jumped, startled. Itachi gave him an apologetic look, “I'm sorry,” his brother said before Sasuke even had a chance to speak. ”Are you hungry? Should I finish making dinner?”

Sasuke chuckled weakly, belatedly realizing that he'd wrapped his arms around himself. “N-no, I'm not really... And I already made dinner.”

Itachi directed his gaze downward, nodding understandingly. “I'm not either.” He stated, then walking past him, back towards the living room. Sasuke followed him, noticing that he was carrying his sling. He glanced at a clock along the way. It was going on three in the morning. Itachi didn't usually wear the sling to bed. It had to really be bothering him.

Itachi sat down on the couch, looking up at Sasuke as he walked over to join him in the living room. “Could you help me put this on?” He requested. Sasuke nodded mutely and took the sling from him, not speaking for the couple of minutes it took to get the sling on. It really was excessively complicated, but he'd gotten extremely good at it.

“Teara, um...” Sasuke started speaking again after he'd sat down. Itachi curled himself up on the couch and observed him carefully as he tried to speak. It only succeeded in making him more anxious. “O-Orochimaru wasn't there... when I, uh, got... there.” He quietly mumbled, stumbling over every other word. “T-Teara killed him the... the day I left, so he was... long gone by the time I arrived.”

Itachi stilled, his expression school to blankness. Sasuke decided he didn't want to look anywhere near his face at that point, so he lowered his gaze to the space on the couch between them. “So, Teara's the one who... trained you?”

Sasuke nodded stiffly. “Y-yea,” he softly replied. “Apparently.”

“What do you mean by 'apparently'?” Itachi wanted to know. Sasuke regretted adding it.

“I only... I've only started remembering this stuff... since I got back from the... ward. I remembered some things, but... there's a lot more than I thought there was. I thought...” his eyes started to burn. He was such a naive idiot, wasn't he?

_"Stupid bitch."_

“I thought I had blacked out for three years, because I'd done it for… for periods of time before," he mumbled.

He chanced a glance at his brother. Itachi's expression was completely unreadable and it was making him exceedingly uncomfortable, so he looked away again and pretended to himself that he understood Itachi perfectly. He didn't like it when his brother looked at him like that.

“I see,” Itachi replied, nodding. “Then it was bad enough that you suppressed the memories, and now your stress levels are triggering flashbacks.”

Sasuke's eyebrows came together and he nodded silently. Itachi was silent for a long moment, and Sasuke didn't have the courage to ask him why Teara had been at their house again. He looked up at his brother briefly, finding that he was staring at the couch with a brooding expression on his face. He watched Itachi for a while before his brother finally looked up and met his gaze. Immediately, he diverted his attention elsewhere.

Itachi sighed softly. Sasuke pointedly didn't look at him. “He really did just want to talk,” Itachi explained. “He... Sasuke, once you found out that I was alive and that I had exorcised you, did anyone tell you how I did it?”

Sasuke slowly shook his head, uncertain of where Itachi was going with what he was saying. “I used a red kunai. I don't know what exactly it was, but Teara gave it to me. That was the first time I'd ever met him. Kaisuki had told me that he was following me around,” at that, Sasuke stiffened. He'd heard that Teara had been tailing Itachi on and off from the man himself. That was how he'd been so easily able to find his brother when he'd gone to fight him.

_"You'd best be careful. Wouldn't want to end up dead, would you?"_

“ _Of course not. I'll be careful.”_

“But I'd never seen or spoken to him myself until that day. All I had to do was put that kunai through a vital point and it killed the demon,” Itachi was continuing to explain. “He also gave me a mask that would completely disguise my chakra as someone else's. If it hadn't been broken, I probably wouldn't have wound up turning myself in.”

Sasuke nodded, frowning. “Today... well, yesterday,” Itachi said heavily, “he came to tell me a little bit about what's going on.” His brother paused for a long moment and Sasuke looked up. He was scowling at a spot on the couch.

“What did he tell _you_?” Sasuke asked in a small voice, feeling exceedingly confused. He saw his brother look up at him out of the corner of his eye. Itachi's eyebrows had come together, a frown on his face.

“Did he tell you something as well?” He asked. Sasuke stiffened momentarily, and then shrugged, turning his attention towards a small stain on the rug to his left.

“Not... really...” he mumbled quietly, apologetically. “He trained me... extensively... so that it would be easier for me and Eirun to... to keep from, um... killing you. Those were my... o-orders. “Incapacitate and capture.” I never... I never found out why.”

Itachi was quiet for a moment. “And he kept you there for... three years.”

Sasuke shrugged. “I didn't think I had... anywhere else to go,” he replied, eyes burning worse with every word he spoke. “I didn't even know that a-anyone was looking for me.”

Itachi was quiet for a long time, but Sasuke didn't look at him. His eyes were actively watering at that point and he didn't want his brother to see him being so weak. He already knew he was a... a...

“ _You're a pathetic_ _ **bitch**_ _.”_

… and he didn't need to see anyone else agreeing with him.

He took in an unsteady breath, feeling Itachi's eyes on him. He still didn't look up.

“He told me,” Itachi suddenly spoke after a few minutes of silence. He could hear the birds chirping outside. What time was it? “That I was involved in something important, and I should try to stay out of harm's way, since ending up in the wrong hands could prove disastrous rather quickly. He wasn't very helpful, to be honest, but he did tell me there were three separate sides, and he wasn't one of those sides but he does “have his fingers in all the pies”. I gather Sumi is one side and Kaisuki and us are our side, but... I don't know who the third side is.”

Sasuke stared at Itachi for a long, long time. “I was...” he started and stopped, the sudden revelation crashing down on him all at once.

He'd been _on_ the third side. He didn't know anything about them, but he'd been on the side trying to keep Itachi alive. Sumi was the one trying to kill him. Kaisuki was just trying to keep her friends and herself afloat. That was why Sumi had targeted him, he'd been on the _other side_.

He felt sick. If he hadn't accidentally “killed” Itachi, what would've happened to him? At no point had anyone ever told him what would become of his brother once he'd “incapacitated and captured” him. At no point had anyone made mention of any plans outside of “capture Itachi alive,” and even that part had been sprung on him after he'd gotten to where Orochimaru was supposed to have been waiting for him. He had nothing useful to offer other than the fact that Eirun was from the other side.

He didn't even know who Eirun was, other than “his lake monster”, and he had a feeling he ought not be referring to him possessively.

“Sasuke?” Itachi's voice startled him and he looked up without meaning to. His brother was looking at him concernedly, and he suddenly realized that he was hyperventilating. He sucked in a deep breath and coughed, pressing a hand to his chest. “Are you alright? What were you going to say?”

The first question had been genuine concern, the second almost a command. Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, mastering his breathing as quickly as he could. That was another thing Teara had taught him.

“ _Stop crying.”_

“I was...” he breathed out, “I was on the, um... the other side. The opposite side from... Sumi. That's... that's probably why she... tried to kill me.”

Itachi nodded, looking very unsurprised by that news. Kaisuki had definitely told both him and Kisame that story. “It makes sense, frankly. I just wish someone would tell me why that one side needs me alive, and what Sumi's so determined to keep from them.” He said with a long-suffering sigh. Sasuke looked up at him, his head still lowered. His older brother looked extremely tired. Possibly even more tired than Kakashi-sensei.

He didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't reply at first. He didn't have any answers. He just had skills that he'd learned. That he'd been forced to learn.

“Kakashi-sensei...” he mumbled quietly, “might let me quit the team.”

There was a brief pause before Itachi quietly asked, “do you want to?”

His eyes were burning again, worse this time. It wasn't more than a few seconds before they were brimming with tears. “Yes,” he whispered thickly.

His brother hummed in acknowledgment and they fell silent again, but it didn't last long.

“I'm sorry,” Itachi said softly. Sasuke lifted his head up, startled, but Itachi wasn't even looking at him. “I... I shouldn't have left you here.”

_Why couldn't he have taken me with him?_

_I just want to know why he abandoned me._

“ _Itachi_ _ **abandoned**_ _you.”_

Sasuke's lower lip trembled, and he shrugged. “You couldn't have brought me with you. Don't kid yourself,” he said bitterly. Itachi looked up at him. He looked extremely depressed. “Trust me, I've thought about it a lot.”

That didn't seem to make his brother feel any better. If anything, it looked like it made him feel worse. “I could've made it work.”

“You could _not_ ,” Sasuke retorted a little heatedly. Kisame had been right; Itachi was _extremely_ unreasonable when it came to his own limitations. He'd never seen it before. He'd never _noticed_ it before. “You can't _possibly_ think that you could've taken me on the road, adopted the life of a missing-nin, and never see a day when someone took advantage of the fact that I am _nowhere_ near your league. I would've weighed you down and gotten in your way and I probably would've eventually gotten myself killed anyway.”

“And...” Sasuke started and then stopped as he recalled something else Kisame had said. “Aren't you sick?”

There was a pregnant pause before Itachi replied in a strained voice, “Who... told you that?”

Sasuke glanced at him. He looked stressed out. “Kisame,” he mumbled.

Itachi lowered his head, nodding slowly. “I was,” he responded after a pause. “But I made a pilgrimage to Tsuki no Kuni and... persuaded the locals to give me a cure. Izumi had mentioned that they probably had one by now.”

Sasuke stared at him. Tsuki no Kuni was an isolationist country, like Ame no Kuni. His brother's story sounded suspiciously half-baked, but he didn't feel like questioning it. He was sure Itachi could tell he didn't believe him at all. “Oh, I see...” He said after a pause.

Itachi didn't say anything in reply to that. The chirping outside was getting somewhat louder, though. “Are you going to sleep tonight?” Sasuke asked.

His brother glanced over at the clock, so he did as well. It was going on five in the morning, at that point. Itachi sighed softly. “Yes,” he said, covering his mouth and yawning. “I'm tired. Are you... spending the night with me?”

The question was hesitant, but he could hear the neediness in Itachi's voice again. He looked up at his brother. He was picking at a thread in the couch. After a moment, Sasuke nodded and then realized that his brother wasn't looking at him.

“Yea,” he replied. “If you... if you don't mind.”

“I don't mind,” Itachi immediately replied. Sasuke hummed in acknowledgment and stood up. His brother followed suit right away. They walked in silence back down the hall, Sasuke detouring into his bedroom to get his futon. When he joined Itachi in his bedroom, his brother had already slid his futon over to accommodate Sasuke's.

“Thank you again for making my bed,” Itachi said as he helped Sasuke roll out of his bed. “I can't tell you how much I wasn't looking forward to having to do that.”

Sasuke felt his cheeks warming again. “No problem,” he mumbled, deciding he didn't want to tell Itachi that he'd been wrapped up in his blankets much earlier in the night, crying for an hour.

Itachi turned the light off once the beds were all set up. Sasuke waited for him to join him before he laid down, scooting to the edge of the futon. Itachi lay down beside him and he scooted closer, lifting his head to let his brother slide his arm under his pillow.

They didn't always sleep so close together. Usually only when something traumatic had happened to one or both of them. Mostly it was the days that Wolf stopped by, which happened once a week, randomly, usually when Sasuke wasn't home. Sometimes, if Sasuke had a particularly horrifying nightmare, he'd be hysterical until he passed out and Itachi would coddle and cuddle him for the time it took for that to happen.

The steady sound of his brother's breathing coupled with the slow rise and fall of his chest under Sasuke's hand quickly became enough to have him falling asleep all by itself.

 


	18. secrets and lies

Every now and then, Sasuke had to go on away missions. Usually, Itachi had Madara with him to keep him company. However, Madara _still_ hadn't come back from wherever he'd gone and Itachi was barely holding it together.

He'd lay around in bed until noon before he would finally get up and go about his day, which consisted of absolutely nothing. He rarely went anywhere, never saw anyone, usually had nothing to do but re-read books he'd already read a hundred times. No one had stopped by to visit, thankfully. Tsunade-sama and Sakura only stopped by every two to three weeks, and he was on an off week. Wolf only stopped by once a week, but he never stayed long and more often than not they wouldn't even exchange words.

In all honesty, he hadn't left the house at all since Teara's visit seven or eight or nine days ago. His diet had suffered as well because he didn't want to go out and buy things as he ran out of them. He was just slowly running out of things so he would eat other things. Since he wasn't eating much anyway, it wasn't a big deal. It just meant that, by the time Sasuke got home, he would probably have been eating rice for three days straight.

Itachi stepped into the kitchen, glancing around habitually in search of abnormalities. He didn't see any, so he crossed the room and picked up the glass he'd used earlier, pouring himself a drink. It wasn't particularly late – only eight in the evening, actually – but he was planning on going to bed soon. Or attempting to, anyway. He hadn't been sleeping well since he was a child, but lately the nightmares he'd almost gotten used to had been getting worse.

His imagination had taken Madara's absence and run with it, coming up with every gruesome scenario of what could be happening and could happen while the ghost was gone. Most of it was unreasonable and illogical, but it was hard to convince his mind otherwise while he was asleep. He just felt so unsafe, so insecure without Madara by his side... it was literally as though the world could end on a dime just because Madara wasn't with him.

For all he knew, that was the case.

_What if he's not coming back? What if he_ _**can't** _ _come back?_

There was a loud knocking at the door and the glass he'd been holding slipped out of his hand and shattered in the sink. He cursed under his breath, turning his gaze towards the ceiling as he counted to five. He heard the knocking again and, shaking his head in a mixture of frustration and misery, he turned away from the sink and headed over to the door. That was Wolf, he was sure. There was no one else who would be coming to see him.

He unlocked the three locks and pulled the door open. Surely enough, there was Wolf, looking ominous. He stepped out of the man's way, allowing him to cross the threshold only because he was required to. If he had his way, only those who lived in the apartment would be allowed inside.

Wolf was peering around at everything suspiciously while Itachi closed the door. He walked past the Black Ops member and headed over to the sink to start picking up the shards of glass that littered it. He felt Wolf's eyes on him but he didn't turn around.

“No “unwanted visitors” recently, Uchiha?” Wolf asked after a pause, his tone nothing short of hateful. Itachi had a feeling the man was watching him pick up the broken glass and making up stories about what was going on in his head.

Itachi tossed a larger chunk of glass into the trash bin and turned around, the sink still not fully cleaned out. There was a lot more glass shards than he'd originally thought. Wolf was staring at him. He shook his head so stonily it was almost sarcastic, looking towards the clock and wishing they'd all just leave him alone.

“No,” he replied dully. Wolf let out a very skeptical huff and Itachi sighed a fair amount louder than he'd meant to.

He had a feeling the ANBU interrogator was resisting the urge to butcher him alive, so he kept the rest of his sound effects to himself. Instead, Itachi crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, watching Wolf as he did his walk-through of the apartment, making sure nothing was where it wasn't supposed to be.

Itachi wasn't supposed to know the location of the weaponry, so Sasuke had to hide it (even though his little brother had made a point to tell him where he'd put it all). Itachi wasn't supposed to have anything that constituted as a weapon in his bedroom. All of the kitchen knives would alert ANBU if they were used to cause a wound larger than the approximate size of a papercut. The bangles on Itachi's wrists tracked his location in addition to locking his chakra.

There were so many things he had to do and wasn't allowed to do, he was sure many people who didn't know the whole situation would call it unreasonable. He felt the village had every right to be paranoid, though. He'd been doing a lot of horrible things for a very long time.

Wolf resurfaced from the back of the apartment a few minutes later, his body language suggesting that he was extremely agitated. “All done?” Itachi asked monotonously.

He was reasonably certain the man was glaring at him with extreme contempt. Wolf took a few strides towards him, stopping about arm's length away, very clearly daring him to do something that would get him arrested. Itachi wondered offhandedly when the man was going to stop underestimating him.

“I'll catch you one of these days, Uchiha,” Wolf spat venomously.

“Or you won't,” Itachi replied coolly, “since I'm not doing anything wrong.”

A gloved hand shot out and wrapped around his throat, wrenching him forward and then slamming his back into the counter. He made no effort to try and dodge or fight back, and he could tell that it was pissing off Wolf even more that he wouldn't offer the man that bit of ego-fodder.

_You couldn't take me down even without my chakra and my right arm if I_ _**actually** _ _fought you, Wolf._

“Unlike our incompetent Hokage, I'm not so naive that I don't recognize that you're up to something,” the Black Ops interrogator snarled. Itachi's eyes narrowed at the blatant disrespect and Wolf's grip tightened as a threat. “You step _one more toe_ out of line, _Uchiha_ , and I'll make you wish you'd never been born.”

Itachi allowed how unimpressed he was to show clearly on his face. “I already wish I'd never been born, Wolf,” he stated dully, “so that's not really much of a threat.”

He saw the moment the man snapped, even though he could only just barely see the glint of his eyes through the holes in his mask. Wolf reared back his fist without a second thought and punched Itachi in the face, letting go of his throat in the same motion. The Uchiha's head whipped to the side and he stumbled from the force of the blow.

He could taste blood. “Should've just killed you when I had the chance,” Wolf snapped.

“Why didn't you?” Itachi asked tiredly, thumbing away the blood beginning to ooze out of his lip. “You certainly had the opportunity to. I was _waiting_ for you to.” Wolf stiffened at that, and Itachi wasn't sure why he was still talking. “I commend you for your self-restraint, Wolf, but I wish you had less of it. I could've been dead by now if you weren't so stubborn.”

Wolf stared at him for a long time in complete silence. Itachi didn't have anything else to add so he didn't say anything further, just shook his head and resisted the urge to laugh. He was such a miserable human being. Why _was_ he still alive?

“I could've had you killed if you'd given up Akatsuki and only Akatsuki,” the Wolf stated darkly, his grudge clear as day. “You could've been dead by now if _you_ weren't so stubborn.”

Itachi chuckled at that before he could stop himself. Everyone was so petty. “If you're done, you should go. I'm tired and I want to go to bed.”

Wolf bristled at that sudden change of topic and the blatant disrespect, and Itachi could hear him grinding his teeth. A moment later, the man turned on his heel and walked out the way he'd come in, slamming the door excessively hard. Itachi stared after him, suddenly exhausted. If only he could lay down to sleep and then never wake up.

He sighed again and started turning off lights before heading into his room. It wasn't quite dark outside yet, but he didn't care. He was tired.

…

Sasuke had flatly refused to speak to Kakashi about _anything_ until Naruto and Sakura weren't around, because (as he'd said) “their stupidity would probably lead them to commit an act of violence against my brother, which would then lead me to kill them both.”

He hadn't put it quite like that, but that was the gist of it.

So, Kakashi had waited for the entire duration of their mission before he got an explanation from Sasuke about what had been going on with Teara and Itachi. The younger Uchiha hadn't seemed to be particularly worried about it, so he figured that either Itachi had an excellent excuse or Sasuke was really just that gullible. He didn't want to think of the kid as stupid, but he did occasionally have the maturity levels of an actual child and immaturity made for gullible younger siblings.

As a result of all of that, Kakashi was walking home with Sasuke, intending to have words with his brother (again). Whether or not that actually happened was debatable. Sasuke had mentioned a couple of times that Itachi had been extremely lethargic as of late and could easily be sleeping when they got there (even though it was almost seven and the sun was setting), but Kakashi had insisted and the kid had been oddly compliant.

He glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye as they strolled through the steadily dimming streets of Konohagakure. Nothing _seemed_ off in that moment, but he'd keep an eye on him.

They stepped up to Sasuke's front door and the Uchiha paused for a second. Kakashi watched him, his one visible eye narrowing in immediate suspiciousness. Sasuke reached out and wrapped his hand around the doorknob, twisting it. It was unlocked, and the younger Uchiha slowly pushed the door open, peering inside. Right away, Kakashi could hear the sound of running water. It was definitely coming from the kitchen.

Sasuke stepped into his apartment, “Itachi?” He called out. Kakashi followed him inside, looking around. The younger Uchiha was about to take a step forward when there was a distinct sound of a few footsteps from the kitchen. A moment later, Itachi came around the corner, holding an ice pack to the side of his face. There was already bruising and swelling blossoming along his jaw, his lip was split, and Kakashi had never seen him look so _tired_.

“Afternoon, Itachi,” the jounin greeted.

Itachi stared at him stonily for a moment before turning back into the kitchen and walking away from them. Sasuke followed after him, and Kakashi after Sasuke. He watched the older brother step back up to the sink, listened to him spit out a mouthful of likely blood and, by the sound of it, a tooth.

“What the fuck happened? _!_ ” Sasuke exclaimed in dismay. Itachi shrugged offhandedly, disinterestedly.

“Wolf,” he replied dully, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. He gargled a mouthful of water and spit back out in the sink. Sasuke was standing a few feet behind him him, looking extremely angry and very upset. The older Uchiha straightened up again, grabbing a gauze pad off the counter and ripping it open so he could press it to his lip and staunch the bleeding. Kakashi observed his ministrations carefully.

The older of the two Uchiha was noticeably shaky in his movement (hypoglycemia, it appeared); his face was pale and the shadows under his eyes were practically bruises; his eyes were rimmed red and slightly bloodshot. All in all, he looked completely terrible. Kakashi had never seen him look so unhealthy when he was clearly not sick. Well, probably not sick.

“He _can't_ do that,” Sasuke ground out, fists shaking at his sides. “That's gotta be a human rights violation or-...”

“What does it matter?” Itachi asked in a lowered voice, still facing the sink as he rinsed the blood off his hand. He shut the sink off and then turned to face Kakashi and Sasuke, pulling the gauze pad away from his lip. It hadn't stopped bleeding. “I'm not sure I count as “human” anymore, so appealing for my rights will get you nowhere and I doubt anyone would listen to you anyway. You'd probably be laughed out of the room and Wolf would likely have something to say to _me_ about it.”

The younger brother looked somewhat injured by that, but Itachi either didn't notice or didn't care. “And why, pray tell, did you bring Kakashi-san over again?” He asked, reaching up and running his thumb under his lip, smearing off the blood that was dripping down his chin again. He looked towards the ceiling, visibly counting to ten.

Sasuke, in the meantime, had stiffened. He looked anxious and upset. Kakashi didn't blame him. Itachi wasn't usually so easily aggravated. “I... he wanted to talk to you. I didn't think you cared. You said you didn't before.”

Itachi let out an uncharacteristically agitated sigh, touching the gauze to his chin again as he finally processed the fact that he was still bleeding. “That was _before_...” The Uchiha paused, his jaw tightening before he shook his head and turned back to the sink, turning the faucet back on. Kakashi watched him mop up his chin again from behind. Was it cabin fever that was getting to Itachi, he wondered? Or was it something else? Was it the aftermath of Teara's visit? No, that had been over two weeks ago.

 _You two always have_ _ **some**_ _kind of problem going on_.

Sasuke seemed to have noticed his brother's state of distress as well. The younger Uchiha looked over at his jounin team leader, who met his gaze evenly. As soon as Sasuke looked back over at Itachi, it struck Kakashi as strange that the kid had been able to hold his gaze at all. He filed it in the back of his head for later, but didn't comment at the moment.

“What... were you saying?” Sasuke asked hesitantly. Itachi didn't reply right away, just spat out another mouthful of blood into the sink. Kakashi scrutinized him carefully. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought guilt was eating away at the man. Well, he supposed it may very well be. He still hadn't gotten the chance to hear the story about why Teara had been at the Uchiha's residence.

Itachi let out a softer sigh, that time. “It's nothing,” he hollowly replied. “Don't worry about it.”

“Now I'm _definitely_ going to worry about it,” Sasuke anxiously retorted, his heart clearly not in his quip. “What's wrong with you? I've noticed lately that you've been really... depressed, I guess.”

Itachi didn't say anything. He just stared into the sink, reaching up absentmindedly and pressing the gauze pad against his lip again. Kakashi frowned. He really was being extremely dodgy, but guilt didn't seem right as an answer. He just seemed bitter and depressed. That was really it, and it could be easily explained away by his circumstances.

The silence stretched over about two minutes before Sasuke let out a noisy sigh. “Fine,” he grunted. “Were you going to make anything for dinner? I'll cook it.”

“There's nothing to make,” Itachi replied stonily. “We're out of basically everything.”

There was a pause before Sasuke spoke in a strained voice. “You haven't left this apartment since I went away, have you?”

“Since before that, actually,” Itachi answered. Sasuke looked to be at a loss for words.

Kakashi stared at the older brother. Who was that person and what had they done with Uchiha Itachi, proud legacy of the Uchiha clan and prodigy unlike any other? The person standing before him was barely a shell of who Itachi was supposed to be. The empty expression and toneless voice was as usual, but everything else was completely wrong.

After a moment of silence in which Sasuke tried and failed to find something to say, Itachi turned back around again, moving the ice pack over the gauze pad he'd been holding to his lip. “What do you want, Kakashi-san?” He asked tiredly. “I'm not really in a good mindset for company right now.”

Kakashi frowned deeply. “Why was Teara here the other night?” He asked flatly.

“Go read Wolf's report,” the older Uchiha frostily snapped after a brief pause, letting the hand that had been holding up the ice pack drop to his side. “I don't have the patience to recount that evening any more times than I already have, especially since I know no one believes a word I say. If that's all you wanted, then excuse me. I'm going back to bed.”

Itachi's lip was still bleeding, but he lifted the hand with the ice pack again and placed it right where it had been as he stalked past Sasuke and Kakashi. A few seconds later, they could hear Itachi's bedroom door closing.

Sasuke cleared his throat, attracting Kakashi's attention. The look on his face was completely unreadable. “I'm... I'm sorry,” he quietly apologized. “I don't know what's been going on with him. He wasn't doing this bad when I left.”

Kakashi pursed his lips beneath his mask and sighed softly. “Let me know if you find out.”

The kid nodded. Kakashi still couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he looked somewhat unhappy. “I will,” he replied. “You should probably go... I need to get to the store before they close and I clearly need to feed him.”

Kakashi hummed in agreement. “I can walk you to the store, even if I don't walk back with you.”

Sasuke looked up at him, a split second of confusion crossing his face before he blinked and shook his head. He smiled tiredly, weakly, “It's fine,” he replied, wrapping his hand around the elbow of the opposite arm. “I'll be alright.”

Kakashi was surprised by that, but he supposed he could understand why the kid wouldn't want to be around him at that moment. He nodded anyway, however. “Then I'll see you when I see you,” he stated. Sasuke grunted an affirmative and Kakashi turned away and left the apartment, easing the door shut behind him. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he certainly hoped that Itachi wasn't plotting anything. He didn't want to be so distrusting, but Itachi had done some serious damage to Sasuke. Whether he'd wanted to do it at the time or not was irrelevant to Kakashi; he'd seen the damage firsthand and he'd be damned if he was going to let it go on right under his nose.

Sasuke didn't seem to be showing any signs of abuse, but the kid had managed to hide a lot of things for a very long time when he was much younger.

He sighed heavily, looking skyward. He was definitely going to retire as soon as they were all chuunin and no longer his legal responsibility.

…

It had been two and a half weeks since he'd gotten back from his most recent away mission.

_Itachi & Sasuke,_

_Hey yous! I'm going to be coming into town in I think a week or two? Soon, either way. I have some things I want to talk to you about, regarding a few details I found out. Shigaki and I are heading your way from central Tsuchi no Kuni. If I get delayed I'll send you another letter to let you know, but if you don't hear from me within three weeks, assume something horrible happened._

_\- Kaisuki_

Sasuke stared at the letter, rereading it a hundred times before he slowly folded it up and slipped it into his back pocket without a second thought. He pulled open the door and stepped back into the apartment. “No mail today,” he lied, neglecting to take off his shoes. His brother didn't reply, but he could hear the faucet running.

He went into the kitchen and walked up behind Itachi, who was rinsing something off. “Did you hear me?” He asked, and Itachi winced and turned around to face him.

“Stop sneaking up on me,” Itachi commanded. Sasuke smiled sheepishly. “And yes, I heard you. Could I get you to go out and get some eggs? I need them for breakfast.”

Sasuke stared at him. “Come with me,” he stated rather than asked.

Itachi reached up a hand and pressed his fingers against his eyelids. “No,” he replied tersely before turning back to the counter and getting to work on a sizable mound of dough.

“Why not?” Sasuke demanded to know, temper immediately finding him. Itachi gave him a look that only served to worsen his fury. “What? It's really not like you have better things to do. You would never leave the house if I didn't make you.”

“Sasuke, if I wanted to go out, I would just go to the store myself instead of trying to get you to go for me,” Itachi replied impatiently. Sasuke felt his hands curl into fists at his sides, his anger levels rising with every word that came out of his brother's mouth. _Shut up_. “Especially since you've been nothing but an insufferable _brat_ lately.”

He felt his heart palpitate several times. He felt his mouth go dry. He felt his palms sweating and his jaw clenching. His nails were digging into his palms so hard he was sure he was about to draw blood. His mind was buzzing with several different violent, gruesome thoughts that kept flitting about in the forefront of his thoughts.

Itachi's back was to him. His brother was completely off-guard.

He blinked once and suddenly Itachi was sitting on the floor by the dining room table, nearly on the other side of the room from the sink, his hand pressed to the side of his head. Sasuke was standing in front of him, his throat aching as though he'd been yelling even though he didn't remember saying anything. His eyes were burning with a typhoon of emotions that he no longer felt. His hands were tingling as though they'd been used for some act that required extreme amounts of force and grip strength. He couldn't think of what, though. He didn't even know for sure what had... happened...

_In an instant he_ _**snapped** _ _and grabbed his older brother by a fistful of his long hair, wrenching him back so hard he stumbled and lost his balance before Sasuke turned and_ _**slammed** _ _his head on the dining room table._

_Itachi's knees buckled immediately and he hit the floor, barely managing to catch himself. Sasuke's voice was getting progressively louder until he was shouting at Itachi, cursing him out in ways he would_ _**never** _ _have even considered before._

_He couldn't make sense of the words he was using but he knew it was vulgar and cruel simply by the tone of his own voice. His eyes were burning, frustration and fury and raw pain that he didn't know the origins of coloring his tone and flavoring every word with a remarkably coherent outburst of lies and excuses and threats and manipulations and he_ _**knew** _ _what he was doing; he knew that Itachi would cave. Itachi_ _**always** _ _caved._

Sasuke stared at him, heart hammering away in his throat and his breathing coming in shallowly. That hadn't just happened. No way. _No way._ That had to be a lie his imagination had randomly cooked up. He hadn't just attacked his brother, he _hadn't_ , there was... he couldn't have...

Itachi was still sitting on the floor, his right hand remaining against his head while his left was holding him upright, his eyes closed and his jaw tight. He was as still as stone and Sasuke could tell that he had hurt him. He had _hurt_ him.

He was rigid and holding his breath. Itachi remained in that spot for a good three minutes with his eyes closed, his face screwed up in pain. Sasuke didn't know how hard he'd slammed his head into that table but he wouldn't be surprised if he found out that he'd concussed Itachi. He felt nauseous. How had that happened? That had _never_ happened before. He hadn't had an outburst like that since he was... since he was...

His hand drifted over to his wrist and he ran his fingers over the bracelet. It was still on his wrist so there was no way he was possessed again. That had to just be him. Was he regressing again? Or was he relapsing, like everyone kept telling him he might? He didn't want to end up back in the psych ward, he didn't know if Itachi would be allowed to remain out of prison if there wasn't someone living with him to “keep an eye on him” if they didn't put him back behind bars they'd probably just dump the responsibility on Wolf and he didn't even want to _know_ what would come of _that_ Wolf would-...

“Fine,” Itachi's shaky voice cut into his thoughts and he froze, mind reeling back to his original question before he could stop it.

_Will you come to the store with me?_

“W-what?” Sasuke swallowed, his stomach flipping several times.

Itachi wordlessly and precariously picked himself up off the floor, using the table to guide him. Sasuke hadn't even thought to offer a hand until he was already standing.

“I'll go with you,” his brother said in the quietest voice. His hand slowly lowered from the side of his head. He was looking somewhere that wasn't at Sasuke, his expression dulled and depressed. “Let me just get dressed.”

Sasuke watched him silently walk out of the kitchen, but didn't move and didn't say anything. Alongside his very strong feelings of triumph was a familiar horror at what he'd done. It was the time he'd broken Naruto's nose all over again, only he no longer had the option of drowning himself in a lake or throwing himself off a cliff because he didn't know what would become of Itachi if he did.

He felt terrible, even though he was elated that he wasn't going out without his brother.

Itachi resurfaced a few minutes later and Sasuke could see a bruise forming at his hairline even as he was finger-combing his bangs into place. He looked like he'd been emptied out. He stepped over to the door and pulled his shoes on, glancing back at Sasuke.

Sasuke met his gaze evenly for a second before Itachi diverted his attention back to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open.

_**That's what I** _ _ **thought** _ _**.** _

 


	19. over and over

Itachi had gone from laying around in bed until noon to getting up at the crack of dawn.

He'd get up between four and five and go into their small study, turning on the lamp and sitting on the end of the small couch closest to it. He'd sit there and read books he'd read a thousand and one times, until around seven or eight. When he heard Sasuke begin to stir in his bedroom, he would get up off the couch, bookmark his page, and then he'd go into the kitchen and start preparing breakfast.

By the time Sasuke got up, Itachi would have cooked a light breakfast with ginger sprinkled atop it to aid in keeping his little brother from getting sick. Itachi would have a few bites and then he'd be done eating for half the day. Sasuke had been finishing his plate and telling Itachi to eat lately, but the older brother only ever gave him a withering glare before getting up and shutting himself back in the study.

They'd been fighting a lot, too. Sasuke had been demanding things from him that he wasn't always willing to give and then cursing him out until he gave in when he refused. It wasn't usually anything major – his little brother just seemed to want to be with Itachi for every instant of the day and night. Itachi wasn't allowed to be _alone_. Sasuke had assaulted him twice over it, the second time being only a week ago.

“ _I am_ _ **done**_ _with this childish nonsense of yours,_ _Sasuke. If you can't act your age, you can sleep in your own room and cook your own meals until you remember how to be an adult.”_

Itachi had lost his patience with his younger brother and he'd gotten a killer black eye over it, which his brother had eventually healed without prompting. Sasuke's temper had been worsening with every passing day but, in retrospect, he could probably have handled the situation better. His little brother had been exceedingly stressed out and his moments of regression were getting more and more frequent. And besides, Sasuke had only been asking him if he would be willing to walk him to and from his meetings with his team from then on. The only reason he hadn't wanted to was because he didn't want to be walking the streets of the village any more than he _absolutely_ had to.

In the end, he'd been somewhat forced to agree to it, though.

 _It's not a big deal,_ he'd been reminding himself continuously. So far, there had been no incidents with the locals, but Itachi was sure that was because Sasuke gave off the most _menacing_ vibe when they went out together.

It _was_ annoying, though. Sasuke already didn't leave the house unless he was summoned to a team meeting by Kakashi or he went to the store (with Itachi, every single time). When his little brother was at home, he was always in whatever room Itachi was in. If Itachi was reading in the study, Sasuke was sitting on the opposite side of the couch talking to him even when he wasn't listening. If Itachi was cooking in the kitchen, Sasuke was hovering nearby. If Itachi was in the living room taking a nap, his brother would be sitting in the armchair, either talking to him while he tried to sleep or reading the same book Itachi had been reading and commenting on things as he went. Both of those things would keep him up until he gave up trying to take his nap.

At night, Sasuke had completely stopped sleeping in his own room. It had gotten to a point where he wasn't even keeping his futon in his own closet anymore. Itachi didn't _mind_ letting his little brother share his sleeping space, but if Sasuke was curled up beside him, it would be far too warm for him to sleep.

So, in order to help Sasuke get the rest he needed, he wasn't sleeping. Or at least, he wasn't sleeping _much_.

But it was fine, really, because his nightmares had gotten to a point that he didn't _want_ to sleep. His life was becoming enough of a nightmare without his imagination's help. He would lay in bed for _hours_ , just staring at the ceiling, fighting sleep until he could fight it no longer. He'd spent many nights without getting even a moment of slumber for every possible reason. Neighbors are too loud, moon is too bright, little brother having nightmares and needing to be manually roused, little brother making too much contact, little brother producing too much body heat...

The fact that Madara still hadn't come back.

… _grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his head into the wall..._

Itachi sighed as quietly as could be and managed to pull himself free from his little brother. Sasuke make a soft noise and Itachi took a moment to pet his head and shush him before he rose and left the room. Sasuke had gone to bed later than Itachi had the previous night, saying that he wasn't tired. It was nearly three in the morning when his brother finally made it to bed, and Itachi had laid down around ten. It was the first time his little brother hadn't followed him to bed. Actually, he'd gotten the impression that Sasuke was angry with him because he hadn't decided to stay up with him.

He silently exited the bedroom that could hardly be considered his at that point, heading down the hall to the bathroom for his morning ritual. He flipped the light switch and looked over at the mirror, stilling when he saw it.

There was a jet black sheet over the mirror, folded carefully to fit snug around the glass. Itachi stared at it, his mouth going dry.

“ _Yea, Sasuke had trashed his whole apartment when I went to his place a few weeks after he left,” Kaisuki told him over tea. Sasuke was at a team meeting and wouldn't be back for some hours, so they were taking advantage of the time they had to gossip about him. “He destroyed everything he owned and covered up every reflective surface in the apartment with black sheets. He told me in one of his letters that he remembered seeing himself in the mirror and freaking out, but he didn't remember why.”_

_Itachi nodded, filing that information in the back of his head. He never knew when he would need it._

Apparently, he needed it right then.

His throat was tight and he took several steps back out of the bathroom, shutting off the light. He listened carefully to the rest of the house, but all was silent. Sasuke was still asleep, so he headed for the front door swiftly but without making a sound. He grabbed his shoes and started putting them on, cursing himself with every fiber of his being.

He was such an _idiot_. Sasuke had _never_ raised a hand against him until about a week or so ago, when he'd slammed his older brother's head into the dining room table with enough force to make him black out for a second. They'd been living together for almost eight months and Itachi hadn't felt inclined to write an incident report until that last week and he _didn't_ because he hadn't cared enough, he was too tired of everything and he just didn't want to deal with it. And anyway, he doubted that anyone would've believed him if he told them that his little brother had gotten the jump on him _twice_ , managing to do rather serious damage both times.

 _Stupid, stupid,_ _ **stupid**_...

“Where are you going?”

He stiffened, hand wrapped around the doorknob. He turned to face his little brother, who was standing about three or four feet away, his mouth dry. No, that wasn't Sasuke. And Itachi knew that he wasn't going to beat the demon controlling his little brother in a fight. Not without his chakra or at least a weapon of some sort, but he didn't want to hurt the real Sasuke so he wasn't sure if getting a kunai or a knife would be wise.

Of course, judging by the murderous look in his little brother's black eyes, he might not have a choice.

“Answer me,” the thing demanded with rather excessive amounts of hostility in his voice.

Itachi pursed his lips, conjuring a lie at the speed of light. “Shizune-san or Tsunade-sama was supposed to be by yesterday, but neither of them ever showed.” He told his little brother. Sasuke hadn't been home the last time Tsunade-sama had shown up to check on the condition of his arm. The thing possessing him wouldn't know about it. “So I'm going to go over there.”

“Why don't you just send her a letter?” The being Itachi knew wasn't his brother wanted to know, his suspiciousness obvious.

Itachi glared at him. “Weren't you the one telling me to get out of the house more often?”

“I changed my mind,” the demon stated darkly, a visible, blackish aura forming around him, lining his silhouette with evil energy. Itachi's jaw tightened. “You should just stay home, aniki.”

“In case you forgot, Wolf and his superiors are the only ones with the authority to tell me what I can and can't do,” Itachi scowled at him. He tightened his grip on the doorknob and turned it, pulling it open a bit. “Now, I have to go. I'll be back soon.”

He pulled the door open wider and Sasuke's voice came out as a growl behind him, “ _No_.”

The door was wrenched out of his grip by an invisible force and it slammed shut so hard the décor on the walls trembled. The door immediately locked itself, taking away his only route of escape. Their windows were shatter-proof – Itachi wouldn't be able to break them without his chakra. Not a chance. The only thing he could do was fight but there was _no way_ he was going to succeed at that without killing his little brother and if he killed his little brother-...

Only a split second had passed since the door had locked and Itachi suddenly felt a presence behind him. He turned as a couple of those black strands of energy wrapped tightly around his throat and waist and wrist, pulling hard. He resisted for as long as he could, but his possessed brother lost patience quickly. A moment later, he was in the air and then he was flying _through_ the air until his back hit the window at the other end of the hall _hard_. The glass didn't so much as crack but Itachi certainly felt like he'd just splintered his spine.

He wheezed harshly, finding it difficult to catch his breath. Sasuke was walking towards him. He sensed another set of those strands darting towards him and, in a last-minute decision, he somersaulted into Sasuke's room, rolling up on his feet and slamming the door shut. He locked it quickly, knowing that it wouldn't do much for very long. He had to be fast.

He crossed the room hastily, falling to his knees and ripping up the tatami mats. As he'd expected, the weapon stash that Sasuke had made was right were it was supposed to be. He grabbed a kunai with a special note attached to it. The note would make the kunai cut through chakra. He didn't know if it would be effective in the manner he wanted it to be, but he could give it a shot.

He stood up swiftly, twirling the kunai in his hand and turning to face the door. It'd been a long time since he'd held one, but he remembered it clearly, as though he'd been on the road with Kisame yesterday. The only difference was that his little brother was possessed and probably trying to kill him and his chakra was bound and he wasn't actually supposed to have access to weaponry.

_Probably trying to kill him..._

No, if it had been planning to kill him, he would've been dead upon impact with the wall at the end of the hall, right? He watched the door to Sasuke's room as those thick lengths of shadow were pushing through the cracks, adjusting his grip on the kunai several times. There were two other sides besides his own. One side wanted him dead, the other side wanted him alive. If the demon he was fighting was from the side that wanted him alive...

There was a very loud bang as the door abruptly flew off the hinges, hitting the wall a few feet to Itachi's right, narrowly missing him. He clenched his jaw as his little brother's person walked into the room, slowly turning his gaze towards Itachi. Now that he knew how Sasuke was when he wasn't possessed, he could see just how _wrong_ everything about him was. The lack of emotion in his eyes, the stillness of his expression, the way he walked, _everything_ was wrong.

" _Aniki_ ," Sasuke's voice sighed with annoyance. "Don't be difficult."

Itachi glared at him. "Get out of my brother and I'll consider it."

"Oh, yes, of course, right away," came the sarcastic reply. The shadows were shifting around on the floor restlessly, creeping towards him extremely slowly. He took a step back, and then another, adjusting his grip on the kunai again. "You're delusional if you honestly think you stand a chance in your current condition."

Itachi's arm was in its sling, inconveniently. It'd been bothering him a lot lately, so he'd been wearing the sling more often (he was supposed to wear it constantly anyway). He wouldn't be able to use that arm at all because it was completely immobilized.

His jaw tightened. He had been caught in a terrible set of circumstances."I've fought against worse odds."

His little brother's empty eyes narrowed. "Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" He taunted.

Itachi figured he'd fight and if he couldn't get away in the manner he was planning, he would then resort to threatening his own life. Worst case scenario was that he died, but that wasn't really all that big a deal to him. He'd been trying to die for a while.

Besides, Madara was gone, so he didn't have to feel obligated to safeguard his own life anymore.

The shadows rose up off the ground, twisting this way and that. He tracked every one of them carefully, his heart hammering in his throat. He would have to assume that every shadow could be used as a weapon. The last demon to possess Sasuke - Eirun, his brother had once identified - hadn't had the ability to manipulate shadows. Itachi didn't know if it was a trait only powerful demons had or if it was more to do with lineage or whatever else.

He'd assume it meant for a stronger demon. Sasuke's Sharingan was activated and Itachi didn't even have his own. He was extremely outmatched. If anything was going to save him at that point, it would be his level of skill, but even that was questionable against something he couldn't _hurt_. He could carve the thing up for hours and it wouldn't feel it.

Unless, of course, doing damage to a tenketsu would hurt the demon. Khrai had explained at one point that demons were made up of chakra, essentially, which was why he was about to try to fight his possessed brother with a kunai made to cut chakra. If demons were made up of chakra, he could probably do damage if he drove the kunai in his hand into one of Sasuke's tenketsu.

That was a _very_ big "maybe", but he had to try.

He caught his little brother's black eyes glancing between all the shadow strands, as though taking count or perhaps communicating with them. He tightened his grip on his kunai and a split second later several of the rope-like shadows rose up out of the floor and lashed out at him. He twirled the kunai in his hand until he had it in an appropriate grip for the angle he needed to be slashing in and struck out at one of the strands.

As he'd hoped, the kunai sliced right through it. The part that he'd cut off dropped to the floor and sank into the tatami mats by his feet. Itachi wasn't sure if it was dead or if it was rejoining with the rest of the shadows, but he didn't worry about it. It would slow them down and it would enable him to make space to cross the room.

The demon was watching Itachi with an unreadable expression on its face. The older Uchiha caught sight of him when he glanced toward it to make sure it hadn't moved his brother anywhere. He was just beginning to feel like he was making progress when something rose up out of the ground right at his feet and wrapped around his ankle.

When he glanced down to investigate, he saw that it had come out of his own shadow.

_Shit._

He was wrenched up off the ground and thrown into the wall a moment later but, like the well-trained shinobi that he was, he planted his feet against the wall and launched himself forward, avoiding injury. He wouldn't be caught off guard again.

Apparently, both his maneuvers and his momentum startled the demon controlling Sasuke. Itachi wondered when people were going to stop underestimating him. He brought the kunai forward and jammed it into a tenketsu he knew was located in the right shoulder, his momentum sending them both to the floor. He heard it let out a sharp cry of pain followed a slew of growled curses. Itachi let his momentum propel him forward, putting his one good arm down and maneuvering into a handspring that nearly sent him through his own closed bedroom door.

He managed to catch himself and took off towards the front door, though he only made it about halfway before something wrapped around his ankle and yanked backwards, sending him right to the floor. He rolled over, seeking the kunai that he'd lost somewhere along the way. He could probably still get to it if he'd dropped it on his way down the hall, but if he'd left it in Sasuke's shoulder...

He spotted Sasuke's person and froze. The demon controlling him was sitting on his knees, his one arm planted on the floor in front of him and his other hanging uselessly at his side. His face was split into a disturbing, maniacal grin, black gunk dripping from his closed right eye and down his chin from his mouth. His skin was ashen and the wound in his shoulder was dripping more of that toxic-looking black liquid down his arm, making a puddle of it in the middle of the hallway.

The shadow wrapped around his ankle started pulling him towards where his possessed brother was sitting at the other end of the hall. Another couple of them pulled themselves up out of the shadows from the furniture, one lashing out and grabbing his wrist and another slinking up down from the ceiling and wrapping around his throat. He thrashed, but it wasn't very useful. They were much, much stronger than him and they had flexibility that he lacked and incorporeal bodies that he couldn't keep a hold of.

His brother's body was forced to rise, though Itachi could tell that it was struggling. The shadows wrapped around his throat and his wrist yanked him forward, pulling him up to stand and then lifting him off the ground. His kunai was still in Sasuke's shoulder after all. The demon didn't seem inclined to remove it. That was a deep wound. Would it be able to repair the damage? Or would it just leave it like that?

“Do you think it was worth it?” Sasuke's tone sounded bloodthirsty and it made a shudder run down his spine. It didn't suit his brother's voice at all. “Pissing me off, that is? I wasn't going to do much worse than break your leg, but now I'm a little annoyed with you.”

The shadows around his wrist and leg tightened their grips exponentially at the same time, until the pressure felt like it was about to crack bone. He clenched his jaw, “I wasn't about to just sit idly by, if that's what you were hoping.” He ground out.

The look in his brother's eyes was unsettling as he took a couple of steps towards Itachi. “You probably should have,” he hissed, pulling a kunai out of his holster. Itachi didn't let his glare falter for a second.

_Madara..._

…

She got into town via a smaller gate on the eastern side of the village (closest to where Itachi and Sasuke lived) in the earlier hours of the morning. She hadn't heard back from either of Uchiha brothers in the nearly three weeks it had taken her to get to the village, which was odd. If she hadn't been delayed by nearly a week, she would've sent them another letter.

They'd been attacked by Teara. He had proven himself, once again, impossible to kill. He'd beaten the tar out of the both of them and he would've killed Kaisuki if Kisame wasn't so good at grabbing his partners at the last possible second and then making a speedy getaway. As it was, they'd needed several days to recover from their injuries.

“ _You're both_ _ **annoying**_ _.”_

Teara had seemed incredibly agitated when they'd encountered him. Something had infuriated him, _clearly_ , but she had no way of knowing what. Itachi and Sasuke hadn't sent her any correspondence in almost month, even though they'd previously been sending back replies within a week after every letter she sent them. She had rushed to get to Konohagakure without waiting until she was completely healed because she'd gotten so worried. Her wrist was still in a brace and she was still sporting several wounds' worth of stitches.

She'd sent them a third letter six or seven days ago, and they hadn't yet replied. She didn't know what had happened but not hearing from them for so long gave her a terrible feeling. The last thing she'd heard from them was that Sasuke was going on an away mission and where he'd be going so she could steer clear of the area, or at least keep an eye out for Team 7.

Saeka spoke as Kaisuki was walking down the streets she knew would lead her to their apartment. “ _Sasuke's at the twelfth training grounds with Team 7 and Itachi's at home._ ”

She sounded mildly agitated, but she always seemed to get like that when they visited Konohagakure. Reminding her repeatedly of how much she hated the village and everyone in it was not making it easier for her to forgive them.

“ _Thanks, Saeka,_ ” Kaisuki replied. Khrai's presence appeared behind her reigns and she glanced back at the blonde. She was scowling, but the expression looked normal on her features. She didn't look angrier than she ought to, so her temper wasn't being tried like Saeka's was. _That_ was a relief. Sometimes Khrai was feeling vindictive and angrier than usual with the village for whatever reasons, and at that point she'd threaten the life of anyone who pissed her off while they were there, with the obvious exception of Itachi and Sasuke.

Her spirits played favorites even more than she did. It was somewhat amazing.

The street was just beginning to become busy, people coming out of their apartments and houses and storefronts one at a time, heading to work, opening shops, heading to the academy, and so on. She kept her eyes on the road before her, not wanting to be caught staring at familiar faces. She didn't know what Naruto had been spouting about her in her absence. Sasuke hadn't told her and Itachi apparently never left their apartment, so he wasn't up-to-date on the gossip. The younger Uchiha didn't seem to want to enlighten her, though she'd never really asked him directly.

" _Can you tell if Itachi's awake?_ " Kaisuki asked Saeka, glancing back at her. The girl stared at her for a moment, before she nodded silently. The Yurei hostess smiled and turned her attention back to where she was walking. She felt Izumi's presence come up behind her as well.

" _What have I missed?_ " Izumi asked. Khrai snorted.

" _Nothing,_ " the elf stated offhandedly. " _We're heading to their apartment now. I guess Sasuke's out with his team._ "

Izumi hummed thoughtfully. " _I thought he was going to quit the team._ "

" _So did I,_ " Saeka added darkly before Khrai or Kaisuki could reply.

Kaisuki tuned out their conversation as she walked up to the front door, knocking in her usual pattern. There was a long, long silence in her head as they waited for the door to be answered, but it wasn't, even after a solid minute. She knocked again, this time a bit louder.

" _Itachi_ _ **is**_ _in there,_ " Saeka stated, her angry tone sounding somewhat deflated. " _He's not getting up, though._ "

Khrai clicked her tongue. " _Where in there is he?_ "

" _His bedroom._ " Saeka replied. " _Seems like he's in a corner._ "

 _That_ made her worry right away, so she reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out the key Itachi and Sasuke had had made for her. She slid it carefully into the lock and turned it. The door unlocked without a problem, and she slowly pushed the door open. No strange movements or sounds or shadows or anything. Brow furrowed at this point, Kaisuki glanced over her shoulder. Several people were staring at her and she pursed her lips before stepping into the apartment. None of them had looked suspicious, just nosy.

"Itachi?" Kaisuki called after the door had closed behind her. It was extremely dark in the apartment. All the windows had been covered, and her stomach sank. The last time Sasuke had covered all the windows in his apartment had been shortly before he left the village. What on earth happened?

She reached over somewhat blindly and found the light switch she knew was there, flicking it up. Immediately the hall light flickered on, illuminating the entire hall and some of every room. She walked carefully towards the back of the house, pulling out a kunai and looking into each room as she approached Itachi's.

"Itachi, are you here?" She called a bit louder, finally looking over at Itachi's closed door. Sasuke's door was open. The bathroom door was open. The study door was open. Itachi's room was the only room with a closed door, and as she approached it she realized that there was a padlock on it, effectively sealing the door shut.

Kaisuki's heart dropped. " _Saeka, you're sure Itachi's in there?_ "

" _Yea,_ " Saeka replied stiffly. " _He is._ "

She clicked her tongue and reached back into her kunai pouch, producing a senbon needle that she used to pick the lock. It took her about five minutes to get the lock to cooperate but once it did she pulled the padlock off quickly and dropped it to the floor beside her.

She knocked on the door, "Itachi?" She called through the wood. "Are you in there?"

What she got in reply was a pained groan and her mouth went dry. She quickly twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, peering inside. The room was pitch black. She pushed the door the rest of the way open, which let in a sparse amount of light.

" _Khrai, can you guide me to the window? If I can get even one of those curtains down, I'll be able to see_ ," Kaisuki requested of the spirit with the best night vision, never once looking back from the room before her. Khrai grunted an affirmative.

" _Go straight forward_ ," Khrai told her, and she did so, walking somewhat slowly. " _Okay, veer to the right a bit... more... more... okay, straighten out and put your arm up._ "

Kaisuki followed her directions to a T, finding the wall and then, soon after, the window. She found what felt like a thick cloth hanging in front of the window. It almost felt like a blanket, and she wrapped her hand around it, took one step back, and pulled.

" _He's in the corner directly to your left,_ " Saeka said quietly. Kaisuki hummed in acknowledgment, still putting increasing amounts of force on her pulling.

After a bit of effort, the blanket tore free from whatever had been holding it to the wall and crumpled to the floor. Immediately, light filled the room and she looked over in the direction specified and spotted the oldest of the Uchiha brothers, her heart stuttering in her chest and her mouth opening in horror.

Itachi was curled up in a corner, just like Saeka had said he was. She felt Izumi come up to stand much closer behind her and she immediately stepped out of the irou-nin's way, feeling somewhat nauseous at the sight before her. The first thing she noticed was what appeared to be a broken right leg. She could see that a knife had been put through his right shoulder and left leg, and his nose had been bleeding at one point. He had a black eye and it looked like his left shoulder had been dislocated. His breathing was shallow and uneven and it sounded like a couple of his ribs were fractured as well.

Her first thought was to wonder how long he'd been left like that. If no one was usually looking for Itachi, it wouldn't be hard for her to imagine that days could go by without anyone noticing that something had happened in his and Sasuke's apartment. If Sasuke was possessed like she was suspecting, he could easily play the act and tell everyone that everything at home was fine. If Wolf came over, he could potentially just use a spell to convince him that he'd had his fun bullying Itachi for the week. Sasuke wouldn't have had to try hard to persuade Sakura and Tsunade-sama that Itachi was sick and they should come back in a week or something. So many excuses could've been made and she knew for a fact that no one would notice if something actually happened to Itachi because no one cared enough to check up on him.

Saeka's chakra was expanding around her. She could feel her internal body temperature rising, and she glanced at the younger spirit. She was staring at Itachi with a still expression on her face, and Kaisuki wondered if she was waiting to receive a kill order. She certainly looked like it.

Izumi fell to her knees besides Itachi, placing her hand gingerly on his cheek. He flinched and immediately followed the movement with a pained sound, one of his black eyes fluttering open a bit. He shifted the slightest bit, just enough so he could look at who was sitting over him, and paused.

"Itachi-kun," Izumi said softly, beginning to pet his hair as gently as physically possible. His eyebrows came together, and Kaisuki's stomach twisted at the agonized expression on his face. "Can you answer me?"

Itachi swallowed hard, likely to wet a parched throat. "Izu... mi?" He croaked, his voice catching.

"Honey," she crooned, and Kaisuki watched her point of view as her gaze swept over the injuries decorating her patient and friend. "I'm going to heal the worst of this and then put you to sleep for a little bit," she said softly, glancing towards the door. Saeka hadn't mentioned that Sasuke was on his way back, but it would be best to pay attention. anyway. "Khrai will carry you to the hospital."

Itachi cleared his throat. "Where is..." _Sasuke_? He didn't have to finish what he was saying for any of them to understand what he meant.

"He's with Team 7, at the twelfth training grounds," Izumi replied right away, moving her hand over his ribs and focusing on healing the fractures there. "What happened, exactly?"

The Uchiha swallowed again, staring up at the ceiling. "He's possessed and I didn't... I didn't notice," he conceded softly, closing his eyes. Izumi looked over at him, and Kaisuki could tell that she was indexing his mental state. She couldn't tell how much of his condition could be blamed on his level of pain and how long he'd been like that, but Izumi usually could.

" _Well, that's weird all by itself,_ " Khrai remarked tensely. Kaisuki glanced over at her. She was observing the scene intently, her expression set in a scowl.

"That's very unlike you," Izumi had commented quietly in response, pulling her hands away from Itachi's chest and scooting down to his leg. Kaisuki could feel the irou-nin's chakra reservoirs draining steadily. The Yurei wished she knew enough to share the workload of healing their friends and family.

Izumi was watching the Uchiha carefully when his eyebrows came together again. He genuinely looked like he was about to cry. "I'm sorry," he whispered, closing his eyes. He took in a deeper, shaky breath, as Izumi had finished healing his ribs, and coughed lightly. "It's... it's complicated."

Kaisuki frowned. It wasn't unlike Itachi to be dodgy about answering questions, but it was clear that, whatever was going on with the older Uchiha, it was _killing_ him. The closest to his current condition she'd ever seen had been after Sumi had attacked him, when he'd spiked that high fever and had become both delirious and depressed. Even that hadn't been like what she was seeing right then.

"I see," Izumi replied softly. "I'm going to demand an explanation later, but it can wait."

She pulled her hands back from his leg, looking him over again. " _Khrai, I think that's the worst of it,_ " she stated, pulling back and turning to the elf. " _Can I get you to carry him to the hospital?_ "

Kaisuki looked at the woman in question and she nodded silently, walking up to take Izumi's place. Izumi stepped over to her, glancing back out at Itachi one last time before looking at her hostess. Kaisuki met her gaze. " _He's definitely hiding something,_ " she said right away.

" _Yea,_ " Kaisuki agreed, frowning as she tuned out the sound of Khrai muttering her spell to Itachi and putting him to sleep. " _I don't know what he could_ _ **possibly**_ _be hiding at_ _ **this**_ _point, but I guess we'll probably find out, won't we?_ "

Izumi looked troubled. " _I hope so_ ," she responded quietly.

When she looked out again, Khrai had scooped Itachi into her arms - as he'd passed out - and an illusion had formed around them, concealing the fact that she was carrying the Uchiha. Kaisuki observed the elf's point of view for a only a few seconds longer before she looked over at Saeka.

The youngest was fuming, clearly. " _Saeka,_ " she said, attracting the addressed spirit's attention. Saeka looked at her, eyes visibly watering with furious tears.

" _We'll take care of it,_ " Kaisuki promised calmly. There was only a brief pause Saeka nodded silently.

" _Yea,_ " the girl muttered. " _I know we will_."

...

"Sasuke, hold up," Naruto called from behind him, and Sasuke resisted the urge to sigh and turned around to face his teammate.

He was about to snap at the blond when he saw that his face had grown ashen and he had a hand pressed to his head. "What's wrong?" He asked uncertainly, dumping the armful of wood he'd been carrying onto the ground. Sakura and Kakashi-sensei were back at the campsite, a good quarter mile or so away. If something was wrong with Naruto, there was going to be a problem.

"My head... hurts," Naruto muttered in reply, swallowing. "And I'm really... _really_ tired all of a sudden..."

Immediately, a burst of anxiety found him. He didn't want to be out in the wilderness with an unconscious person and no one else. He walked over to Naruto, resting a hand on his shoulder and pressing the palm of his other hand to his teammate's forehead. He didn't feel feverish, but Sasuke could feel him swaying.

"Naruto," he called as the blond's eyes began to flutter shut. "Don't you dare-..."

Before he could finish telling Naruto not to pass out, the blond's eyes slipped closed and his knees buckled. Sasuke barely had a chance to catch him under his arms, and even then the unexpected weight of his ex-friend had him dropping to his knees to keep them both upright.

"Naruto? Wake up, you _ass_!" His stomach was twisting this way and that, nausea building in his throat. He had a terrible feeling. The air was cooling rapidly and Naruto had fainted on him for seemingly no reason. The only explanation that made sense to him was to assume that someone had cast a spell to knock him unconscious.

There were _very_ few people he could imagine doing that.

He carefully laid Naruto down on his back, shaking his shoulder pointlessly. His heart was hammering away in his throat and his breathing was shallow and shaky. He could feel his shoulders starting to tremble. It would be dark outside within the hour, and that meant shadows everywhere and limited sight. He swallowed hard, his one hand still resting on Naruto's shoulder. He was _terrified_.

He felt something wrap around his waist, pinning his left arm to his side, as a hand came up from behind him and clamped over his mouth. Whoever it was hauled him to his feet and then effectively pinned him against them. He immediately started trying to pry off the shadow that had wrapped around his waist and was trapping his arm, writhing desperately as his eyes welled with panicked tears.

_Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no,_ _**please** _ _no, please, please..._

"Hold _still_ ," he froze at both the command and the person who had spoken it. Teara tilted his head back with the hand still clamped over his mouth and Sasuke heard the unmistakable sound of the white-haired man's knife sliding out of it's holster. He let out a muffled sob, shaking all over, when he felt the razor sharp blade press against his throat.

"Shut up," Teara hissed venomously, sliding the blade across his jugular, pressing just hard enough to cut him and draw blood. "Stupid _bitch_."

Sasuke's voice caught in his throat before he could sob again and he squeezed his eyes shut, breathing shallowly as he fought to master himself for Teara. The man was angry. He didn't want to make him any angrier, he didn't want to give him an excuse to hurt him, he didn't want to do anything wrong.

The blade pressed in harder, threateningly, but didn't slide again, didn't move otherwise, didn't draw any more blood. The Uchiha's eyes were still streaming tears but he got his voice under control quickly enough to avoid punishment, though he couldn't stop shaking.

"Now," Teara whispered in his ear, taking a few steps back and pulling Sasuke along with him, putting them several feet away from Naruto. His throat was tight and he felt like he was going to be sick. "Be nice and quiet for me, alright?"

He nodded, eyes still streaming tears. Teara's hand came off his mouth, but the blade didn't move from his throat. His right hand was still gripping the shadow that had wrapped itself around his waist and left arm when he felt something that wasn't a hand wrap around his wrist and pull his arm up, and he didn't resist.

Until he realized which arm Teara was getting to.

He spotted the white marbles on his bracelet in the dark - they stood out like milky pearls against the moonlight - and panic struck him because he knew _exactly_ what the white-haired man was doing. All at once, the self-control that sadist had so _painstakingly_ taught him went right out the metaphorical window. He couldn't do that again, he couldn't do it, he couldn't, he _couldn't_....

"No!!" He wrenched his arm towards his chest, trying desperately to curl into himself. "T-Teara, no, no, _please_ , d-don't, I _can't_...! P-please, no... I-I..." Before he realized what he was doing, he was sobbing loudly, all but wailing in panic and despair because he _knew_ he wasn't going to have an option, he knew no one was going to get there in time, he knew Naruto wouldn't wake up and Kakashi-sensei and Sakura were nearly a quarter mile away neither of them were sensory types they wouldn't be able to sense the change in his chakra they wouldn't _notice_ the difference when he got back and he didn't know what Teara was planning but he knew it would involve Itachi because that had been the whole point of possessing him in the first place was to get at _Itachi_ he was just a pawn that no one would leave alone even though he was as _useless_ and _worthless_ as they came...

He didn't get very far before Teara yanked his arm back up and a split second later that knife was pressing against his throat _hard_ and he could feel it cutting in but his pleas only got louder, his movements more desperate.

He thought he heard the man sigh loudly and angrily, before his knife disappeared. A moment later the hand that had been holding it clamped over his mouth, effectively muffling his cries. Teara adjusted the way he was holding Sasuke's wrist and then the appendage had been twisted behind his back so hard his shoulder dislocated with a loud pop. Pain was what made him freeze, his eyes still _streaming_ tears, his breathing close to hyperventilating, but for some reason it was easier to be quiet when he wanted to scream from agony.

"I was _going_ to be nicer about this," Teara growled, thin strands of shadows unclasping the bracelet from his wrist and pulling it off.

He could _immediately_ feel the difference when the bracelet was gone and he whimpered at the feeling. The sensation of the energy on his skin _burned_ worse than he remembered and he could feel every shift in the air. His lungs began to burn and he made a choking sound in the back of his throat, which prompted Teara to move his hand so he could start to cough.

Teara let go of his arm at that point and he dropped to the ground, barely able to breathe. It felt like he was trying to inhale frozen smoke and his shoulder was aching so much worse that it had any right to and everything _hurt_. It was like fire and pins and needles dancing across his skin.

"But now I think I'm just going to have _fun_ with it."

.

"...suke! Wake up..."

_"You've been nothing but an insufferable_ _**brat** _ _lately."_

"What the hell do you mean...? _!_ "

“ _You probably should have,” Sasuke heard his own voice hiss venomously, felt his hand pulling a kunai out of his thigh holster. Itachi's glare didn't falter for a second but he could hear his brother's racing heart._

"Sasuke-kun hasn't... how could he have been possessed again? He hasn't been alone for a moment outside the village-...!"

 _"Myrne," Teara called to someone Sasuke didn't know. He slowly opened his eyes, letting out a weak sound from the back of his throat. The woods around him were so pitch black he couldn't even spot Naruto anymore. He wasn't actually sure if he was even still_ _ **in**_ _the woods. For all he knew, Teara had taken him back to_ _ **that**_ _place, where there were demons everyone and everything wanted to bite him and claw him and_ _ **devour**_ _him._

_Sasuke's gaze found a woman who looked to be closer to Teara's age as she stepped out of the shadows. She wore no readable expression. If anything, she looked bored and possibly disgusted. The glint in her eyes made Sasuke's already wheezing lungs want to cooperate with him even less._

_"What?" She asked, sounding irate. "Do_ _**not** _ _tell me-..."_

_"Don't give him the option of fucking this up," Teara commanded, blatantly interrupting her. He still sounded angry. Hadn't it been hours? How long it had been since he and Naruto had left to get the firewood? "I don't care what you do to either of them to arrange it, but I need his brother_ _**alive** _ _and ready for pickup by that date."_

_He didn't know what_ _**that** _ _date was, exactly, but something was nagging at the back of his head again. Myrne was staring down at him as though he were less appealing than a slug as she walked up to him and he found himself flinching back from her when she knelt down in front of him._

_"_ _**Disgusting** _ _," the woman hissed, pressing her hand over his eyes. A moment after she'd blocked out his vision, his head split into the_ _**worst** _ _headache he'd ever had, and then everything else faded away for he didn't even know how long._

_When he came back to, Naruto was silently walking beside him and they were heading back from getting firewood and nothing had happened._

"Sasuke, can you hear me?" He knew that voice from somewhere. "Sasuke, c'mon, honey, open your eyes."

_"Your only job is to stay put and wait for Teara to collect you._ _**Understand** _ _?"_

_Itachi didn't move or utter a sound in reply and it was pissing him off._

Sasuke's eyes flew open as he sucked in a breath and sat up, wheezing and choking and gasping, every exhale coming out more and more distressed. He was shaking all over and it felt like there was something crawling on him. He rubbed his arms insistently, trying to rid himself of the sensation.

"Sasuke?" He jumped and looked up, finding himself gazing into Izumi's familiar, forest green eyes. She looked extremely alarmed. He could hardly breathe. He didn't know if he'd be able to speak. He remembered what had happened for the most part.

He let out a very audible sob, his hands spasming as he pulled his sleeve up to check his wrist. The bracelet was there, right as it was supposed to be. It didn't look different, it didn't look like it was missing any marbles, nothing. Teara must've put it back. So wearing it wouldn't deal with a preexisting possession? He held his arm against his chest and hunched forward, still trying to catch his breath.

"Sasuke, honey," Izumi crooned, rubbing circles on his back. "I need you to breathe, okay? Just concentrate on breathing."

Her voice sounded so far away, but he recognized that she was trying to help and attempted to do what she was asking. It was difficult to steer his mind away from the dozens of directions it wanted to go, and even when he was able to get a hold on breathing, he couldn't stop _shaking_.

_"Your only job is to stay put and wait for Teara to collect you._ _**Understand** _ _?"_

Trying to breathe while speaking was hard. "W-where is... I-Itachi?" He stammered, his heart still hammering away in his throat. He looked up at Izumi. She looked stricken.

"He's in the hospital," she told him uneasily. "He's pretty badly hurt, but it's nothing he won't recover from."

Sasuke's heart dropped from his throat to his gut and stopped _dead_. He pressed his hands over his mouth, taking in heaving gasps. He'd done that. _He'd_ done that. He _remembered_ doing that. He lowered his head, shaking it back and forth as he struggled to get a hold of himself past the immeasurable number of confusing and vivid memories that were flickering back and forth across the forefront of his mind. He remembered when he'd first lost his temper on his brother.

_..._ _**slammed** _ _his head into the dining room table..._

He should've told someone then, he'd _known_ something was wrong, why couldn't he ever just listen to himself? Why did he struggle so much with fighting that nagging voice with its nightmares and crippling migraines? Itachi could. Itachi had fought Eirun back so thoroughly, the lake monster had been forced to jump into Sasuke to compensate. His older brother was _strong_ and he was _useless_ in comparison.

_"Try hard to fill Itachi's shoes, Sasuke. I think it'll serve as a good challenge for you, to help you grow stronger."_

_"You stupid fucking_ _**bitch** _ _."_

"Sasuke, Sasuke, hey," Izumi was calling his name again and he opened his eyes, feeling dizzy. "Honey, you need to breathe. You're hyperventilating. _Breathe_ , Sasuke."

_"Stop crying."_

He just pretended to himself that it was Teara telling him to be quiet, closed his eyes, and took deep breath after deep breath until he could at least mostly regulate it. Every inhale was shaky and every exhale shuddered, but he wasn't hyperventilating He'd managed to calm that aspect of himself down. He was good at that.

_"That's about all you seem to be good at."_

His stomach rolled. His mouth tasted sour.

"How did he get possessed again, Kaisuki?" Naruto's voice snarled from somewhere. The Yurei didn't pay him any attention at all, but Kakashi-sensei decided to pipe up at that moment.

"That's a good question," the jounin wanted to know, but he wasn't demanding his answer from Kaisuki. "Sasuke, do you remember?"

Sasuke shuddered and shook his head. He wasn't about to talk to _them_ about it. He didn't want to talk to any of them ever again. Kaisuki was fine, but he didn't know why the rest of them were even there. Hadn't he been planning to quit the team? Or had he "changed his mind"? Did no one pay any attention? At least Itachi had the excuse of being so depressed he could barely _move_.

Naruto muttered something and Sasuke heard the audible sound of Sakura smacking him upside the head.

"Sasuke," Izumi was speaking to him again, her voice gentle enough that Naruto and Sakura probably couldn't hear it over their immediate bickering. "Like I said, Itachi's at the hospital. Do you want to go see him?"

Sasuke looked up at her, his eyes welling with tears before he nodded shakily. He felt like he hadn't seen his brother in months. He didn't even know for sure how long he'd been possessed, but he was sure Itachi would be able to tell him how long it had been since his last away mission. He remembered that there hadn't been any more.

Izumi nodded. "Alright, then let's hop up," she said, planting her hands on her knees and standing up. Naruto and Sakura fell silent as Izumi extended a hand to him and helped him to his feet. His legs felt immensely wobbly and his knees seemed like they wanted to buckle.

"What?" Naruto grumbled, "Going somewhere?"

Izumi turned to the blond and spoke before Sasuke could even begin to think of a reply. "Yes, we are," she informed coldly. "Have a good afternoon. Come on, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at her, then at Naruto for a split second (he looked highly offended), and then at the ground. He nodded, reaching out and taking Izumi's hand without thinking about it. She squeezed his fingers gently and guided him along so he didn't have to look up. He didn't want to see his would-be ex-teammates' faces. He didn't want to give them an excuse to speak to him. If he looked at them, they would likely say something.

They started off, Izumi setting the pace. It was probably a brisk pace for her, but he was a good three or four inches taller than Kaisuki and six or so inches taller than Izumi. He concentrated on her steps, matching them as well as he could as a means of distracting his easily wandering mind.

"He's alright, Sasuke," Kaisuki's familiar vocal tone suddenly said, attracting his attention. He couldn't see her face when he looked up. "I promise he's not going to hold a grudge. He's actually just really upset with himself for not noticing. I'm not sure what's going on, but he seems really messed up right now."

Sasuke stared at the back of her head for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Y-yea," he mumbled. "He's... he's been getting w-worse for a while. I mean... weeks. It just... it's gotten really bad this past two months. He... he won't tell me what's wrong."

Kaisuki glanced back at him, her bright red eyes comforting for some reason. She offered him a sad smile, "Well, Itachi was never good about discussing his feelings, was he?"

Sasuke's eyes burned and he looked down. "N-no... I guess he wasn't."

"It'll be alright," she shook his hand a bit, persuading him to look up, though he didn't lift his head. "I don't know what's going on, but we'll have a conversation about it. Let's just go see Itachi for now, though. We can talk when he's released."

He didn't know what to say, so he just nodded.

_"I-I don't..." Sasuke stammered, his heart hammering in his throat. It was hard to speak. He could already feel Eirun's attentive, invasive presence pricking at his thoughts, shutting things down in his head. His mind was already stilling and his vision was getting hazy. "Why do you...?"_ _**Need him alive** _ _?_

_"Bait," Teara replied offhandedly, thrusting Sasuke's chokuto into his chest. The Uchiha took the weapon even though he didn't want to, his hands trembling as he attached it to his waist. "For someone dangerous. Now shut your fucking mouth."_

_Sasuke nodded obediently, eyes burning as he turned and started towards the door. He was just stepping across the threshold when Teara's hand shot out and grabbed him by the elbow harshly, yanking him back to face him. The man's blue eyes were blazing._

_"Don't fuck this up._ _**Do you understand me** _ _?" He warned with emphasis. Sasuke's heart leaped clear into his throat and he bobbed his head rapidly, terrified. Teara turned him back around, shoving him so hard he stumbled and almost fell._

_"Then let's get a fucking move on, shall we? I have a deadline to make."_

_I-I'm sorry... I'm_ _**so sorry** _ _..._

 


	20. return

"Get _away_ from him."

Wolf turned towards Madara when he spoke, but he didn't have the time to even _start_ lifting his arms to block or deflect before the undead Uchiha's fist connected solidly with the center of his mask. There was a sickening crunch as the interrogator's nose broke from the impact (though the mask didn't so much as crack) and his back hit the wall beside Itachi's bed.

Itachi's eyes were wide and his heart was hammering in his throat. Wolf doubled forward, his hand going under his mask and he spluttered curses. A moment later, someone else from ANBU came storming into the room. Itachi didn't know why there was only one of them - he _knew_ there had been two guards outside the door - but she took in the situation for only an instant before Itachi saw her hand jerk towards her kunai.

"Madara, _enough._ " He commanded as his ancestor turned to the Cat who had just entered the room. The undead Uchiha turned to him, looking alarmed, angry, surprised, and any number of other things.

"Itachi-..." his companion began speaking.

"Just... _stop_ ," Itachi pleaded. Madara frowned at him, looking like he wanted to say something, but Itachi just shook his head.

Wolf straightened up from his hunched over position and looked to Cat, " _Arrest_ him," he spat furiously in a nasally voice. The undead Uchiha in question looked like he was about to have a problem with that, but he stilled when he looked over at Itachi again. His frown deepened, and he sighed heavily before lifting his hands up in a gesture of surrender

"Don't give me a reason to hit you again, Wolf," Madara warned, his expression still. "I _will_ break you in half."

Itachi felt immensely sick. Cat crossed the room, handcuffs having been produced from seemingly nowhere. A moment later, Madara's hands were cuffed behind his back and he was being roughly dragged out of the room by the Black Ops Cat, while Wolf remained beside Itachi's hospital bed, his hand under his still mask as he used irou-ninjutsu to repair his broken nose.

"Madara, _behave yourself_!" Itachi all but shouted after the once-ghost. Madara turned to look at him, still resisting all the way out the door. Cat was visibly struggling to control his rambunctiousness.

"Relax, Itachi," Madara's face broke into a smile and he laughed jovially at him, unwavering. Itachi's throat went tight. He felt like he was being strangled. "I promise that if they're going to execute me, I'll just bust out and run away. No big deal."

He saw Wolf's one free hand curl into a fist and his mouth went dry. The last thing Madara needed to do was break out of prison, but before Itachi could say anything further to his arrested companion, he had been bodily dragged out of the room and the door had slammed shut.

_They arrested him._

As soon as he was out of sight, Itachi's chest constricted and his stomach knotted and he thought for a moment that his lungs were spontaneously collapsing. It was a struggle to hold in the need to take in a wheezing breath. He didn't want to show Wolf that amount of weakness. He _knew_ that the man would at least try to exploit it in every way he could, and that could easily persuade Madara to kill Black Ops' lead interrogator. _That_ would be an actual disaster.

Wolf adjusted his mask back to where it was supposed to be and then turned to Itachi, whose jaw tightened as he glared at the interrogator. Itachi's stomach was churning, but he didn't falter. His heart was racing and his back was stiff with tension, but he didn't divert his gaze.

"It's like you're working at this," the Black Ops interrogator darkly said. "Who's _this_ one, hm? Another "unwanted guest"? The only Madara you mentioned before was the one running Akatsuki."

Itachi didn't hesitate when he replied, "what I mentioned was that Tobi uses Madara as an alias. I don't call him "Madara" and I know I told you _that_ as well," he replied icily. "Are any of your notes even accurate?"

Wolf's fist struck out as Itachi had expected it to and, from his seated position in his hospital bed, he redirected the blow away from his face with practiced ease, even though the sling on his other arm threw off his balance somewhat. The momentum the interrogator had put behind his fist caused him to lurch forward somewhat, but he caught himself and didn't crash into Itachi. He did, however, take the opportunity to grab a fistful of Itachi's shirt and yank him forward harshly. His still-bruised and healing ribs protested the awkward movement but he didn't let his discomfort show.

He stopped resisting at that point, partly because he knew that if he tried to actually _hurt_ Wolf he could end up in worse trouble than just what Madara had wrought. Itachi could just barely see the glint of Wolf's blazing eyes. They looked to be a deep mahogany color and Itachi could read exactly what he was about to say.

"Tomorrow at noon," he hissed venomously. "You'll-..."

"Come down to the station for questioning," Itachi cut him off by finishing the rest of his sentence. Wolf's grip around the front of his shirt tightened exponentially. "You'll let the nurses know, I'm sure."

_They arrested him. They arrested him. They arrested him._

He heard the sound of gritting teeth and, a second later, Wolf shoved him backwards while rearing back his own fist and then yanked Itachi forward again while he threw his punch. He was clearly looking to do as much damage as he could in one swing, knowing that he couldn't _really_ get away with just beating Itachi half to death in his hospital room.

Wolf's fist connected solidly with Itachi's cheek and his head swung to the side from the force of the blow. In that instant, he was expecting Wolf to let go of him, because the Black Ops shinobi never hit him more than once outside of interrogations and he most certainly didn't do any other kind of damage.

Instead, he felt a hand wrap around a fistful of his hair and yank _hard_ to the opposite side that his face had turned. He grunted in pain, his left hand immediately grabbing Wolf's wrist, squeezing as hard as he could and digging his nails into the radial artery. Wolf didn't even react, just grabbed his middle finger and bent it back until Itachi heard and felt a crack. Pain shot through his hand and he immediately started trying to pull away, but his right arm was immobilized by his sling so all he could really do was try to pull back his arm, which was completely useless as a tactic.

Wolf tilted his head back and twisted his finger in the same motion and Itachi's breath left him in a hiss. He turned a frosty, defiant glare on the Black Ops interrogator, despite how much pain he was in.

_They_ _**arrested** _ _him._

There was the slightest shift of the energy in the air and then suddenly it was _freezing_ and, for some reason, it seemed like it had gotten dark all of a sudden. Wolf loomed over him, his grip on Itachi's hair tightening as he used his fingers to press into the second joint up in his already broken finger and pushed in until there was another crack. Itachi was unable to keep from eliciting a series of curses and renewed his efforts to free himself.

The shadows on the walls shifted slightly and Itachi's heart stuttered in his chest again. His eyes widened slightly as tendrils of smoky darkness began to rise out of the shadows around him. He froze, even though Wolf's grip seemed to only be getting tighter. The shadows that were populating the ceiling and walls were dripping black ooze onto the floor, the furniture, the bed. Some of it landed directly on his skin and it _burned_ worse than anything and he jerked away from the sensation but it didn't help. He quickly found himself trying much harder to pull free of Wolf's grasp but it was impossible; the man had seemingly turned to _stone_.

He heard a knock on the door and blinked, startled. The instant he opened his eyes again, he was shocked to find that the shadows, the black gunk, all of it was gone. Wolf's grip on his hand and hair wasn't even as strong as it had been, and the Black Ops interrogator was already letting go of him and turning towards the door.

The man stood there for a moment and he clicked his tongue agitatedly before looking to Itachi once more. "Tomorrow at noon," Wolf ground out, fists clenching at his sides. Itachi's jaw was tight but he had schooled his expression to something calm and unreadable, even though the tempest of emotions raging around inside him was _far_ from calm.

He didn't respond but Wolf apparently didn't care that time. The interrogator stalked across the room and threw the door open. Itachi lowered his head, staring at his lap as he lifted his hand and inspected the damage. He already knew his lip was split and bleeding again, and he could taste more blood in his mouth. Red droplets fell to the white sheets but he ignored the sensation of the warm liquid oozing down his chin.

His eyes were burning and his chest was so tight he couldn't inhale. He felt numb and overwhelmed at the same time. They had _arrested_ Madara. He didn't know what they were going to do to him. He didn't know if they were going to execute him or if they were going to torture him or if they were going to do something else, something _worse_ , he didn't even know what could _be_ worse, he thought he'd seen the worst of Wolf but that... that...

He felt sick. What had that been, with the shadows just then? Nothing like that had _ever_ happened, and he wasn't sure if it was a hallucination or if it was an illusion of some sort or if it had been _real_. If Wolf was possessed, that meant a demon had full and easy access to both Madara and a lot of equipment. Tomorrow at noon they'd have Itachi too and he didn't know if that was an important detail; if a possessed Wolf needed one of them for something, he could easily use the other to get it.

_Oh gods, what do I do?_

"I-Itachi? _!_ " He flinched at the very loud sound of his name and looked up. He was suddenly very aware of the tears that had filled his vision. He stared at the blurry faces of Sasuke and Kaisuki. If his little brother was with the Yurei, he supposed he could figure that he probably wasn't possessed anymore. The knowledge didn't make him feel any better about anything.

He looked back down at his hands as he blinked, the tears that had welled in his eyes overflowing down his cheeks. He tried to master himself, tried to steer his thoughts in an calmer direction so he could calm his heart and steady his breathing but he _couldn't_. That stupid ghost had just been _arrested_ and he wasn't even sure what that would entail. Both Itachi and Madara had referred to the dead Uchiha as "Madara". They should've used a different name and he _knew_ it. If he could persuade Wolf to believe that he _really was_ Uchiha Madara, most prodigious and powerful Uchiha to ever live, destroyer of villages and murderer of families, they may very well just kill him to protect the village. No one knew about the possession that Madara had been victim of, so they had no reason to imagine that he wouldn't be a threat.

 _Especially_ because he'd attacked Wolf.

"Itachi-kun," Kaisuki's voice was unmistakable but he recognized Izumi's tone and way of addressing him right away. The sound of her voice only seemed to succeed in making him feel worse. "Honey, look up, let me see your face and that hand."

Itachi didn't move immediately but after a moment he held out his hand for her. Izumi paused for a moment before he heard her sigh softly and felt her hand gently wrap around wrist. She gripped the end of his finger carefully and then yanked back. There were two distinct cracks and Itachi hissed in pain. It subsided somewhat rather quickly, but it continued to throb.

"Itachi-kun," Izumi's fingers gently brushed his hair behind his ear. He felt a bit light-headed, and his stomach was still twisting and rolling and bubbling with nausea.

He didn't respond, just swallowed the blood that had accumulated in his mouth. His stomach immediately wanted to spit it back up but he swallowed several more times to quell it. Izumi sighed again beside him and he felt her hand touch the side of his face that Wolf had hit. Right away he could feel the warmth of her irou-ninjutsu, could feel the tingling and the itchiness of the mending tissue.

"A-are you... okay?" Sasuke's voice was shaky. "Why was Wolf...?"

His little brother didn't finish his question and Itachi still didn't know how to answer him. How could he _possibly_ explain what had happened and why he was so upset? He wasn't sure how to explain to them that he'd been carting around the ghost of his ancestor because he was a lonely guy that only Itachi could see and interact with.

At the same time though, he _had_ to explain what was going on.

_How, though?_

His lower lip was trembling. "He was... Wolf was...," he spoke softly, struggling to string his sentences together. He tried to take in a deeper breath in the hopes that it would clear his buzzing head a little but his chest still wasn't having it. Whatever. He started again, "a... friend of mine was here. I don't know how he's... alive, but he showed up a little while ago and I guess he... he used his Sharingan on a few people so he could get to me without incident and... Wolf found out I had a visitor."

He could tell that Izumi and Sasuke had stiffened beside him just by the shift in the vibe around him. "A... friend of yours? With the... Sharingan?" His little brother slowly repeated, sounding completely bewildered. Then, a second later, "who?"

"Uchiha Madara," he replied, touching his lip. There was still blood on his chin. He heard Izumi walking away, heard the sound of paper towels ripping and a faucet running. A moment later she returned, handing him a damp few of them. He took them and started mopping up his chin and hands.

"Uchiha... Madara?" Sasuke finally uttered after a long pause. He seemed extremely anxious and Itachi wondered if he was causing it. He hoped not. He'd feel bad.

"Not Tobi from Akatsuki, he only went by Madara as an alias," Itachi clarified. Neither Sasuke nor Izumi relaxed. "I... I've been friends with the real Madara's ghost for... over a decade now."

There was a long, long silence after that. When Kaisuki spoke again, her voice held Khrai's familiar, deeper tone. " _What_?"

His eyes had stopped leaking tears at some point but he could feel them dried stiff on his cheeks. "I met him when I was... I was about to turn ten, Sasuke had just turned five..." _right after the Spring Festival when he was possessed._ He didn't have to say that part and he knew he didn't because he saw Sasuke's hand moved to press against his forearm out of the corner of his eye.

"I was on a mission and I... fell into a vertical cave while I was scouting. Madara was there, and... he'd been in there for a... a long time." He glanced up at Khrai for only a second before looking back at his lap. She was staring at him with a look of mild alarm on her face. "I'm... I was the only person in a hundred and twenty years who could see him. I suppose a lot of people had fallen in that hole, but no one was ever been able to see him."

"That doesn't make sense," Khrai abruptly cut into his story. He couldn't figure out what kind of tone she was using but he didn't really like it. "Us spirits can't interact with the living, Itachi. We're on a completely separate plain of existence. We call it Limbo or the Between. It's where vengeful spirits reside."

"I don't know about any of that," Itachi replied dully. "All I know is that he's been following me around since then and no one else has _ever_ been able to see him." His eyes were burning worse.

"He went missing for weeks," he continued when Khrai didn't say anything further. "I thought he left because we... we had a really bad fight and then he just walked out the door and I didn't see him for... for _so long_."

He wondered how obvious it was that he was in the process of having a meltdown. Madara could always tell, even when Itachi was only having his nervous breakdowns on the inside, as he was right then. Neither Khrai nor Sasuke were speaking for some reason and Itachi didn't know what else to say.

_They_ _**arrested** _ _him._

He felt like he was being strangled.

"Okay, assuming you're not insane for a moment," Khrai began rather tensely. "Why would someone have resurrected Uchiha Madara? That doesn't make sense either."

"It does... sort of," Sasuke spoke up again, his voice subdued. "Teara said Itachi was... is supposed to be bait."

Itachi didn't even stiffen at that revelation. That bit of news was unsurprising. "If anyone can get their hands on me," the older Uchiha stated flatly, "they essentially have Madara."

"And if they have Sasuke," Khrai added in a darker tone, "they have you."

There was a stiff pause that followed. Itachi wasn't sure what else he could say or what else he _wanted_ to say. He'd told them about Madara's presence in his life. That was all there was for him to say about it. There were no other details They were probably putting together pieces of behavior, things that had happened, and so on, with their newfound knowledge.

"So, what happened today, then? Where is... Madara?" Kaisuki's voice asked, sounding wary. Itachi clenched his jaw, his stomach twisting again at the memory.

_Wolf reached out for him, clearly aiming to grab him by his throat, when Madara suddenly spoke; "Get_ _**away** _ _from him."_

Itachi clenched his jaw, taking in a shuddering breath. His chest ached and he was very aware of the terror holding his heart in a vice grip. "Wolf... arrested him," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes were burning but for some reason they weren't tearing up. He could never seem to really cry in front of anyone who wasn't Madara. "They'd... just taken him a few minutes before you got here."

There was a long pause. "Just because he's... a friend of yours?" Sasuke asked, sounding disbelieving. "Really?"

"I'm a _felon_ , Sasuke," he replied a little more coldly than he'd intended. "So, yea. They..." his throat locked up momentarily and he swallowed hard and continued shakily. "They locked him up because he's a friend of... of _mine_."

He should've _lied_ about who Madara was. He was such an idiot. Should've said he was someone Kaisuki knew coming to check in with him for her or something. Or _anything_ else, other than what he'd said and done. He was such an _idiot_. What kind of former Akatsuki and Black Ops member was he if he couldn't even come up with a believable lie on the spot? He'd done it _so many times_ before, why did he freeze up and mess up _this_ time, of _all_ times? _!_

_"You truly are my son."_

He buried his face in his hands, taking in a deep, shuddering breath and letting it out in a harsh wheeze. He was the best at assassinations and lying and reconnaissance and carrying out his duties like the responsible older brother his mother had loved and becoming the machine of a prodigious shinobi his father had wanted and doing whatever his superiors ever asked of him without question and following the wrong paths in attempts to do the right thing, but _gods forbid_ he actually protected anyone he cared about; _gods forbid_ he ever do anything _good_ for the people he loved.

He knew he was hyperventilating but he didn't have it in him to try and correct it. He could faintly hear someone speaking to him, but he didn't want to listen. He wanted to be left alone, though he didn't want to _be_ alone. He'd been alone too much lately and he couldn't deal with the constant, raw feeling of having no one around.

He supposed now he understood how Sasuke had felt when he'd killed Eirun. He'd thought he'd been miserable the first time Madara had disappeared, but now that the undead Uchiha just been carted off to prison and Itachi had even less reason to imagine that he would _ever_ see him again, he felt like his heart would give out.

He coughed harshly when he tried to take in a deeper breath, noticing belatedly that he was shaking all over and he couldn't make himself stop. "Itachi-kun," he could hear Izumi speaking to him, her voice louder than he was used to. Something about the way she was talking seemed.... weird, but he couldn't place it. He wasn't entirely sure he cared, either. "You need to _calm down_ ; you're hyperventilating."

He nodded in reply without even thinking about it; y _es, I know, thank you for noticing._ But he didn't pick his head up out of his hands to look up at them, didn't shift at all, didn't _move_ at all.

He felt a hand on his back and then another reach around to his chest. He wasn't sure who it was until warmth filled his entire torso, soothing spasming muscles until they settled and forcibly regulating his breathing. That was definitely Izumi. The sensation she was giving him wasn't comfortable and he didn't like it. It had to be one of the most invasive feelings he'd ever experienced. He shuddered, trying to pull away but finding that his muscles felt like jelly and his bones felt like over-cooked noodles.

"I-Itachi? Hey, a-are you alright?" he heard his little brother speak beside him, felt someone's hand start petting his head. Itachi was still having trouble maintaining his breathing, even with Izumi's help. He didn't really _want_ to breathe. Couldn't he just go into a coma caused by oxygen deficiency and never wake up? It'd certainly uncomplicate his life.

He heard Izumi make a distressed - if not frustrated - sound, rubbing circles on his back. She didn't say anything, but he felt the quality of her chakra shift to something a bit more intense. It became somewhat warmer but it wasn't uncomfortably hot or anything. It seemingly soothed away his physical reaction to his stress, slowing everything down. The sensation was still strange and vaguely uncomfortable. His heart wanted to race but Izumi wasn't allowing it to. It felt sort of like she was resetting his entire bodily system, or turning something off that would start a domino effect to calm him forcibly.

Whatever she was doing, he didn't like it even though he could tell that it was helping him physically. He wasn't particularly interested in feeling physically fine when he was an emotional wreck.

"Itachi-kun," Izumi called gently to him. "Are you alright? Can you lift your head and look at me?"

He didn't really want to, but he understood that Izumi was trying to make sure he was alright. He didn't know what he'd looked like but she sounded extremely concerned, so he'd probably scared her. He knew that uncontrollably shaking and hyperventilating people were stressful (if not frightening) to watch, especially when it was clear that nothing was helping. He'd seen Sasuke have enough major panic attacks over the past several months to recognize that fact.

Itachi slowly lifted his head up, letting his hands drop back to his lap, but he didn't actually look at Izumi and Sasuke. He wished he'd just suffocated. He didn't want to look at them and being dead or unconscious would make it easier for him to get away with not following Izumi's directions.

"Itachi-kun?" Izumi called to him again.

Izumi and Sasuke were getting increasingly worried about him and he didn't need them panicking or anything like that. They genuinely didn't know him very well. He'd had significantly worse nervous breakdowns, but Madara was the only person who'd ever seen him in such a condition. His brother hadn't been around to bear witness to that side of him, so he didn't recognize that he was fine. Izumi had seen him sicker than sick; she'd seen him nearly dead, in fact, but she'd never seen him _hysterical_.

Neither of them had seen how bad it could get so, to them, Itachi hyperventilating and shaking was a crisis. Even though it really wasn't.

After a pause that felt like it lasted a lot longer than it probably did, Itachi lifted his head up further and turned his tired gaze towards Izumi. She looked _extremely_ alarmed. She was half-sitting on the bed beside him, half-standing, her hand still on his back.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Izumi asked him in a gentle voice.

He nodded in response to Izumi's question, but he didn't say anything. He didn't really want to talk to them. He didn't really want to talk to anyone but Madara, and Madara was in prison. Madara was out of reach. Madara may very well have been executed before Itachi got to the station.

 _They_ _ **arrested**_ _him_.

Sasuke sighed noisily, sounding distressed. " _Itachi_ ," he said in exasperation. His little brother was right next to her, white-faced and clearly stricken with anxiety. Itachi had probably just given him a bit of an anxiety attack and he knew he was going to feel terrible about it when his mind settled down.

Itachi stared at Sasuke for only a moment before he looked away from his brother's expressive black eyes. He decided he didn't really want to reply, so he didn't. Izumi's warm irou-ninjutsu was still spreading through his chest, though it felt a little cooler than it had. Whatever she was doing, it was a significantly less intrusive feeling. It was still strange, though.

After another minute or so, though, she retracted her chakra. It felt like she'd just drained half of her reservoirs in her efforts to calm him down. What had she even been doing?

"Itachi-kun," Izumi spoke again, but he didn't look up. "Can I get you to talk to me?"

He had a feeling she thought something was actually wrong with him, so he figured he probably ought to put in the effort to dash those thoughts. "I'm fine, Izumi," he said quietly. "Sorry for making you worry."

He heard her sigh softly, "you don't have to apologize, sweetie." She crooned warmly. He was beginning to feel nauseous again. "Are you sure you're alright?"

He nodded silently and then remembered that he was supposed to be talking to her. "I'm fine," he repeated. His repetitiveness probably wasn't making anyone feel any better about his emotional state, so he added in what he'd hoped would be an emphatic tone; "Really."

His voice was completely toneless. They would probably feel better if he _didn't_ speak.

There was a pause that lasted quite a while before Kaisuki's normal voice returned. Had Izumi decided that he wasn't lying about being "fine" or had she figured that, if he wanted her help, he'd ask for it? Either way, she clearly didn't know him very well.

He couldn't think of any other ideas for what she may have been thinking. It felt like his brain had turned off.

"Itachi," Kaisuki began, sounding uncertain, "given everything that's happened today, I'd like to get back out on the road for a couple of days and see if I can figure out how... Madara was resurrected. It's not like that's easy to do, and they didn't use Edo Tensei, right?"

Itachi shook his head in response to her question and she sighed and continued. "Then clearly some kind of..." she trailed off for quite a long moment before she started talking again. "Khrai is saying that the only other way she knows to revive the dead who've been dead for that long is by black magic, and that requires sacrifices and the remains of the deceased and... and black magic... doesn't exist anymore..."

He looked up at her in time to see her eyes turns blue. "You're _sure_ that he wasn't revived by Edo Tensei?" She asked. Itachi nodded and she stood up off the edge of the bed. Khrai turned to Sasuke, looking very serious. "Look after your brother, okay? We have to go look into this. Black magic went extinct when..." she halted for a moment, pursed her lips, and continued. "It went extinct when I wiped out the elves."

Itachi stared at her blankly, and he could see that Sasuke was doing the same. "What?" His little brother asked disbelievingly. "E-elves?"

"Yea," Khrai replied offhandedly. "Humans can't preform any kind of magic. The way your bodies and energies work won't support it. Elven magic pulls directly from the energy put out by your soul. We elves can access ours' and we call it hye. We also have energy put out by our bodies, and we call that chi. You humans only have your chakra, which comes from your body. You physically can't preform magic like I can, which is why you're all so susceptible to my spellwork."

Before either of the Uchiha brothers could even think of a reply, Khrai's blue eyes were gone and Kaisuki's red ones were back. She looked a little sheepish, but she didn't say anything about whatever she was thinking of. "With all that being said," she began, "I really should head out and start looking around. Keep me posted on the situation with, um... Madara. I'll do whatever I can to help."

Itachi's eyes started to burn at the mention of his imprisoned companion, but he didn't speak. He just nodded silently, hoping that she could tell that, somewhere in his empty head, he was extremely grateful for her. Kaisuki offered him a sad smile, so maybe she _could_ tell. He couldn't seem to get a read on her in that moment.

"Thank you, Kaisuki," Sasuke spoke up for him. The youngest remaining Uchiha's voice had the slightest waver to it. "I'll let you know if anything happens."

The Yurei nodded; she hugged Sasuke briefly. After they pulled apart, she reached out and took Itachi's hand, giving it a quick squeeze. The older Uchiha had a feeling she'd feel better if he responded in some way, so he squeezed back before she let go of him. Her smile broadened a bit, though her eyes still looked saddened and possibly a bit worried.

She bid her farewell and a moment later she had left the room. Itachi sort of wished she had stayed a bit longer but at the same time he was glad that Izumi wasn't there to fret over him anymore. She and Kaisuki and Saeka and Khrai had enough on their plate, and Itachi didn't like making them worry. He didn't like making anyone worry.

Unfortunately, it seemed that making people worry was something _else_ he was exceptional at.

"I-Itachi..." Sasuke mumbled. Itachi didn't look up, just hummed in acknowledgment. He was so tired. "I-... I'm so... _so_ sorry."

The older of the two continued to stared at his hands. "You don't have to apologize to me, Sasuke," he said softly. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you."

There was a lengthy silence. Sasuke was probably struggling to find words, as he often did. Itachi just didn't know what else to say. If what he'd said wasn't enough for his incredibly intelligent little brother to understand, he was just going to have to deal with it because his older brother's head was _empty_.

The quiet stretched for a seemingly long time. Itachi wasn't sure how to fill it. He didn't think he was really in any condition to be conversing with people.

"Sasuke," he quietly spoke after a good five minutes. "I'm... going to sleep until they let me out of here. I'll see you at home."

"Oh, um," Sasuke replied weakly. "O-okay... I'll... I'll see you at home, yea."

He just nodded without looking up as Sasuke stood up, hesitated for a moment, and then left. Itachi sat in silence for a long time before he lay down, facing the door. It was difficult to get comfortable with how sore he was, but after a few minutes of shifting and turning to every side but his right, he managed to find a snug spot.

 _They_ _ **arrested**_ _him_.

He had a feeling he wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon.

...

_He waited in shadows and darkness for what felt like an eternity before Teara resurfaced from the room he'd disappeared into._

_"Sasuke."_

_He had been looking at the floor and he didn't respond right away to the person speaking. Then it suddenly occurred to him that "Sasuke" was_ _ **his**_ _**name**_ _. He looked in the direction of the man who had called him, anxious. When he saw that it was Teara, standing only a couple feet away, he froze in a mixture of shock and immediate fear. Why had Teara called him by his name? Teara_ _ **never**_ _called him by his name._

_**"Oi, brat."** _

_**"I'll call you whatever I want, you fuck."** _

_**"That's literally all you are: a worthless fucking** _ _ **bitch** _ _**."** _

_He already knew he was in a lot of trouble. Teara had repaired most of the damage he'd earlier caused so his charge could walk and therefore follow him on his errands (Sasuke was required to follow him_ _**everywhere** _ _). Before that, he'd been broken and beaten and bloody and left that way for a couple of hours._

_However, he knew there was a_ _**lot** _ _more in store for him._

_Killing Itachi had been much more than just a mistake. Killing Itachi had ruined something - some_ _**plan** _ _\- that was much more important than Sasuke's life. Teara may very well have already gotten the order to just kill his charge. Teara may have been ordered to break him more thoroughly. Teara may decide that Sasuke was just too volatile and too much of a hassle to control and therefore it would be better if he was_ _**completely** _ _under someone else's command - someone stronger than Eirun._

_The white-haired man's expression was completely unreadable and the sight of it only exacerbated the tremors that had started in Sasuke's shoulders. His throat felt tight and his lungs wouldn't take in enough air._

_"Come on," Teara continued in a toneless voice as he started walking by. He grasped Sasuke firmly by the back of his neck and manually turned the Uchiha, pushing him into a brisk stride. Teara didn't usually walk so fast, but Sasuke wasn't allowed to speak so he didn't comment or question it._

_They turned down a long, dark hallway. There was very minimal light, and the light that was available was a pale blue. The air was getting progressively warmer, more humid, and it reeked like death. He swallowed hard, stomach rolling._

_"You're making this charade_ _**really** _ _hard, you know that?" Teara spoke again, his voice somewhat quieter than usual, but his tone still venomous. Sasuke sank into his shoulders. He wasn't sure if Teara wanted him to reply or not. He wasn't supposed to speak unless he was explicitly told to, but sometimes Teara spoke to him and if he_ _**didn't** _ _reply he'd get socked for it - even if he hadn't been given permission to speak._

_Halfway down the hall, Teara opened a rift and grabbed his elbow, guiding him through pitch-black darkness for a moment before they emerged in the wilderness on the other side. The white-haired man let go of his arm and stepped around in front of him._

_"I'm not kidding." Teara suddenly said, clearly agitated. Sasuke still didn't respond, kept his eyes on the ground. "Look at me when I'm talking to you,_ _**bitch** _ _."_

_He didn't want to, but he lifted his head and looked up at Teara. His gaze was smoldering and a split second after Sasuke had looked up, Teara's hand struck out and wrapped around his throat, wrenching him forward. The white-haired man leaned in far too close, eyes still boring holes into Sasuke's soul._

_His shaking worsened exponentially and he wanted to try to pull away but he_ _**knew** _ _Teara would hit him if he did. Teara might cut off his fingers again if he did. He seemed angry and Sasuke didn't know what had happened but he was_ _**terrified** _ _._

_"I'm trying to keep you alive and you're making it_ _**really fucking difficult** _ _," Teara growled. "Do you want to know what she said?"_

_**No, I don't.** _

_"She said that if I can't find a good use for you," the sadist hissed, "then I need to kill you."_

_Immediately, Sasuke's eyes welled with frightened tears. On the one hand, he would_ _**love** _ _for Teara to just kill him. He was tired. He was in pain. He felt raw and empty. He didn't want to have to live like_ _**this** _ _anymore. On the other hand, he would be willing to bet a lot that Teara wouldn't_ _**just** _ _kill him. Teara would have a world of fun with it. That was what he enjoyed doing. He made a hobby out of hurting people._

_Teara dropped his left hand from Sasuke's throat and held up his other hand - his right hand, which was missing two fingers and all but gushing blood that was streaked black. "In the meantime, I'm down two fingers because of you," he ground out furiously. Sasuke's eyes were wide as he stared at the fresh wounds, his heart stuttering in his chest. "And you can bet your sorry little ass you're going to pay for that."_

_The tears in his eyes spilled down his cheeks and he made a weak, terrified sound. "I-I-I'm s-sorry," he hiccuped, pressing his hands over his mouth. "I'm s-so sorry, I d-didn't me-mean to..." He could barely speak past the lump in his throat and his knees felt like they were going to buckle underneath him._

_"You didn't mean to kill me?"_

_Sasuke flinched and whirled around at the familiar voice speaking behind him. His eyes widened hugely at the sight he was met with, his mouth going dry and his voice dying in his throat. Itachi was standing there, bloody and beaten, staring at him with empty,_ _**dead** _ _eyes. When he spoke, his voice was toneless and hollow and the sound of it echoed in his head._

_"Don't you think it's a bit late for an apology, otouto?"_

_**... slammed his head off the dining room table...** _

_"Your only job is to stay put and wait for Teara to collect you._ _**Understand** _ _?"_

"Sasuke, _wake up_!"

 


	21. pain and pain and more pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've major some major changes to the direction of the story and as a result I'm eventually going to reposting chapter 8, 9, 10, 12, and the end of 19. Not today tho, I'm too lazy. I already made the change on my Fanfiction dot Net account but I just don't feel like doing it here quite yet. You can find me on ff dot net as KRenee, just like here. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Sasuke's hand dropped to his side as he watched Itachi walk into the huge, looming building that was ANBU's station. He felt sick.

The younger Uchiha stared at the building for a long, silent moment, his heart sinking. He didn't know how long he was going to have to wait for Itachi. He wasn't allowed to wait in the building. He wasn't even allowed _in_ the building. ANBU's station was off-limits to non-members and no one was allowed inside unless they were called there for something.

Sasuke turned away from the gray building and started walking in the direction of his and Itachi's apartment. He didn't know what to think. He'd tried to get Itachi to explain to him in better detail what was going on, but Itachi was caught somewhere between hysteria and complete catatonia. He'd _struggled_ for _hours_ trying to get Itachi to talk to him but it seemed like every time his brother recalled the events that had transpired since yesterday morning, he had a breakdown. He would either seemingly vacate his body or have an full-blown panic attack.

They hadn't gotten much sleep. Itachi hadn't bothered trying and Sasuke had been roused by a night terror around four in the morning, after going to bed in the vicinity of one-thirty. His older brother had spent the entire morning apologizing for not hearing him in time to wake him from his dreams before they reached crisis.

Sasuke gingerly ran his fingers over the arm warmers he was wearing, feeling the stiffness of the gauze beneath. He'd scratched up his wrist pretty bad. He hadn't done that since Itachi had gotten out of prison, save for exactly one occasion, and Itachi had woken him before it got out of hand. The nightmare he'd woken from just a few hours ago had turned into one of the most awful he'd had in _years_.

He sighed heavily. It seemed like, every time he turned around, something _worse_ was happening.

The sky was looking like it wanted to rain and there was an unmistakable feeling of loss and loneliness already sinking in. His anxiety was making his stomach do all kinds of acrobatics. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep until Itachi got home but he wanted to go home and nap.

He had no idea when Itachi was going to be back.

Wolf was as volatile as he was vindictive and bitter. Itachi had already explained that he was reasonably certain that Wolf was the same Wolf that Itachi had known when he'd been enlisted in ANBU's Black Ops almost ten years ago. The man would keep Sasuke's older brother for as long as he could get away with because he _hated_ Itachi and the younger brother didn't know how many hours or days that was. He didn't know who he could ask, either. He didn't think there _was_ anyone he could ask.

No one who would give him a straight (or even truthful) answer, anyway.

The only person he could think of who might was Kakashi, and Sasuke hadn't spoken to him since he'd quit the team. He hadn't spoken to or seen any of them. He'd been pointedly avoiding Naruto at any and all costs and Sakura and he just didn't ever cross paths for some reason, despite the fact that she was _supposed_ to be treating Itachi's bad arm. She hadn't been over in a couple of months and apparently Itachi wasn't interested in following up.

None of them had tried to seek out Sasuke directly since he'd quit the team. He was torn between relieved that their resentment was finally out of sight and mostly out of mind but, at the same time, it stung to think that both Kaisuki and he were so easy to cast away. They'd had a weird kind of cohesion amongst the members of their team at one point, even with all the drama and dysfunction. They had all been friends.

_"You ruined a lot while you were there and even more when you left. What makes you think they want you to come back and ruin what they've repaired in your absence?"_

Sasuke pulled his key out of his pocket as he was walking up to his front door and jammed it into the lock, turning it and opening the door. He flicked the lights on as the door swung shut behind him and swallowed. He was going to be in his apartment, alone, for the first time since the last time Itachi had been arrested. He didn't know how long that was going to be. He didn't have anywhere else he could go to stay the night or anyone he could invite over on such short notice. He highly doubted that Kaisuki was going to conveniently show up right when he needed her and even Kuroi would take a couple of days to find her.

“ _Itachi, you're... you're all I have left.”_

He fell heavily onto the couch in the living room, leaning over and laying down on his side. Itachi had spoken about Madara sparingly since the previous afternoon, but everything he _had_ said had made it sound like his older brother couldn't _live_ without Madara. Sasuke hadn't even realized that such a person had existed in Itachi's life. They'd been living with a third, albeit dead person whom Itachi was _hopelessly_ attached to the whole time? Why had Itachi refused to tell him? He'd said that Madara could touch him - break his fingers if he wanted to, in fact - so it wasn't like there would've been no way to prove that Madara did exist.

So why hadn't he said anything? The whole time, Sasuke had been wondering who the mystery target was, why and how Itachi was tied to them, why they were so important, and why Sasuke had to be dragged into it. He finally understood at that point. He didn't know _what_ Madara's purpose was, but he had to be the person Teara had been talking about using Itachi to bait.

If Madara was half as needy for Itachi as Itachi was for Madara, it would be _easy_ to get Madara to do whatever they wanted. Itachi's right arm had been trashed and it had been proving to be a significantly more major handicap than his older brother had at first expected and realized. Teara could _easily_ take him out.

_So why do you need me?_

His eyes were burning. He knew why. If Teara had Sasuke, he had Itachi, and if he had Itachi, he had Madara. It was a simple equation made up of codependency and somewhat unhealthy relationships.

It hadn't escaped Sasuke's notice for an instant that Itachi had become a complete pushover at some point. His older brother used to be extremely strict about their mom's rules and their father's expectations. He'd made a perfect babysitter when he was home because he didn't let Sasuke get away with _anything_ and he _never_ caved in. Sasuke used to complain that Itachi was stricter than their actual parents, which his brother had firmly disagreed with even though it was true whether he wanted it to be or not.

Since his brother had gotten out of prison, he'd become the _biggest_ pushover. The Itachi he'd remembered from his childhood would never give in to _anything_ Sasuke wanted, no matter how much he nagged or how loud of a tantrum he threw or how violent he became. Itachi had always been an unwavering, unmoving object. Even when he'd been in prison, he'd been just as stubborn.

Sasuke curled into himself tightly, his sour stomach worsening. He didn't know what was going on with Itachi. He supposed it was possible that the depression he'd been suffering through had made him so apathetic that he just didn't _care_ enough to be his usual strict and stubborn self, but...

He'd never seen his brother so openly miserable in his _life_. Itachi had basically started having mood swings. He seemed so unstable. Was it _really_ just because of Madara's absence? Khrai had, at one point, explained to Sasuke that the start of his emotional instability - including the violent outbursts, the lacking self-control, and the bloodlust - had been when he was possessed.

_"The presence of a demon trashes the natural internal equilibrium that we all have with ourselves. That equilibrium is from the harmony of our energy, our physical and spiritual bodies, and our minds."_

Sasuke frowned. He doubted that Itachi was possessed. Aside from being a hysterical, miserable mess, his brother hadn't been exhibiting any symptoms of possession. He'd just been depressed and then anxious nearly out of his mind because of the situation with Madara. Clearly something was going on there that Sasuke, obviously, didn't know about. He'd never known Itachi to be _that_ emotionally dependent on _anyone_. Itachi was better known for completing missions alone, training alone, taking long walks alone, _being_ alone.

Although, apparently he hadn't actually been alone that whole time.

_"I haven't been alone since I was four."_

At that point, Sasuke realized that he _completely_ understood what was going on.

...

Needless to say, Kaisuki was surprised when the door to Sasuke and Itachi's apartment opened to reveal the younger brother, who's face was whiter than a sheet of paper.

"Holy shit," Kaisuki greeted him in dismay. Not only was Sasuke's face ashen, his dark shadows were like bruises and he'd clearly been crying very recently. There was a notable tremor in his shoulders and his misery was clear in his eyes.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked as Sasuke lead her into the living room. She sat down as he was walking around shutting blinds (it looked like he'd already been in the process of doing so), sniffling the whole time. While he was blocking off the last window, she reached behind her and turned on a lamp that had been sitting on the end table beside the edge of the couch.

Sasuke sat down in front of her and was silent for a moment before his lower lip trembled and a fresh onslaught of tears filled his eyes. "Itachi... Itachi's at the station," he choked out with a shuddering breath. Kaisuki felt her stomach drop immediately. "He's been there for two days now and I don't know when he's gonna be back."

"Was he arrested?" She asked, her heart in her throat. Khrai and Izumi and Saeka were in the back of her head, not paying any attention to what was going on in the present. They'd been gone for some hours, likely resting. The four of them had been busy the past several days and the three spirits had been especially worn out.

Sasuke shook his head in response to her question, swallowing hard. "No," he replied despairingly. "I guess Wolf told him to be there at noon the day... Madara was arrested, before you and I got there."

Kaisuki clenched her jaw, already furious. "He's been gone for two full days?" She asked.

Sasuke nodded solemnly. "You can't go in there, Kaisuki," he mumbled, seemingly reading her mind. "No one's allowed in there unless they get called in. I know you know that."

"Then how long can they legally keep him?" She demanded to know. "I _know_ there's a limit to how long you can detain a civilian."

There was a pause. Sasuke's gaze was fixed on the couch between them, his eyes leaking tears even though he was obviously too tired to actually sob. "No one... thinks of him as a civilian," he softly replied. "He's just a murderer and a criminal to them. They can probably keep him as long as they want."

Her chest was in a vice grip. Was there really nothing they could do? No one they could talk to? Nowhere they could go for answers? She didn't even know what to say to the younger brother to make him feel better. There probably wasn't _anything_ she could say to make him feel better. At that point, it seemed like Wolf was literally just looking for any and every excuse to have Itachi kept in his interrogation chambers.

She didn't know what she ought to do. Breaking him out was a terrible idea. Tsunade wouldn't listen to her. She was only barely on speaking terms with Kakashi, and she was most definitely _not_ on speaking terms with Sakura and Naruto. Kisame couldn't really do anything from where he was and she didn't have any other friends she could rely on in a situation like the one she found herself in.

She glanced towards the windows. It was getting late, too. Even if there had been anyone willing and able to help, most wouldn't be awake and the others probably wouldn't want to deal with it so late in the day. The only thing they could do was sit around and twiddle their thumbs until Itachi came home, and there was no possible way to know when that would be.

"If you want," Kaisuki spoke softly, crestfallen, "I can stay here until he's home and keep you company."

When she looked back up at Sasuke to gauge his reaction and saw that his eyes widened and welled with tears, she immediately knew that he must have had some gnarly nightmares in his brother's absence.

"Would... you?" He mumbled hopefully. She smiled and nodded at him, and he let out an audible sigh of relief. "Th-... thanks, Kaisuki."

The Yurei felt her smile waver a little, "Of course, Sasuke."

" _Kaisuki?_ " She heard Izumi's voice float up and glanced back to see the irou-nin walking towards her. " _Is everything alright?_ "

She frowned and shook her head internally at the spirit. " _Itachi's... Wolf's got Itachi again._ " She replied, watching Izumi's green eyes immediately fill with worry. " _I guess he told Itachi to go down to the station before Sasuke and I got there. He's been gone for two days_."

" _Are we waiting for him to come back?_ " Izumi immediately wanted to know. Kaisuki nodded and Izumi directed her gaze towards the real world for a second. " _Then, may I make Sasuke something to get him to sleep tonight? He looks terrible._ "

She nodded, turning back to the reigns. "Sasuke," she said, attracting his attention. He had been staring at the couch, his expression so tired that she wanted nothing more than to hold him and rock him to sleep. "Izumi's going to make you something so you'll sleep tonight, okay? I'm gonna go take a nap, I'm exhausted."

Sasuke gave her an unreadable look and she smiled warmly at him in reply. After a moment, the Uchiha slowly nodded. Immediately, Kaisuki let go of her reigns and turned back to Izumi. " _You should take the opportunity to-..._ " She began, but the irou-nin cut her off.

" _Talk to him? Of course, Kaisuki,_ " Izumi agreed with a smile. " _Go take your nap. He'll be in bed by the time you come back._ "

Kaisuki nodded and walked past her, stepping into complete darkness for a moment before she appeared on the path she had grown to know so well. She had no idea where Saeka and Khrai were, but she figured she'd just go to the back rooms and actually take a nap. They'd probably go find her when they woke up, if Izumi wasn't letting them see what was going on in reality yet.

She could faintly hear Sasuke and Izumi talking but she blocked out the sound of their voices. Soon enough, she wouldn't be able to hear them but, in the meantime, she didn't want to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

...

The following morning, Sasuke had been struck by a sudden, aggressive fever. By the time afternoon rolled around it was over a hundred and three, and so he'd been laid up on the couch literally all day. Kaisuki had been tending to him with Izumi's help. So far he hadn't _died_ yet but he was still quite sick, according to the resident dead irou-nin.

It was after eleven in the evening at that point, and Sasuke's fever still persisted. He'd been resting all day and hadn't shown any signs of feeling any better whatsoever. Kaisuki wouldn't deny that she was somewhat worried, even though he'd told her that it wasn't the first time he'd spiked a high fever like the one he currently had.

_"It happened a lot while I was in Otogakure, because I... I didn't... sleep much."_

Between nightmares and, well, _Teara_ , her brother had basically missed out on three years' worth of sleep. His body could go and go and go when he was possessed and Teara knew it, so he hadn't given Sasuke a whole lot of breaks. The only time her brother had _slept_ had been when he passed out from pain or exhaustion and even that hadn't happened often.

Kaisuki was realizing more and more just how much she _hated_ Teara, and she knew that Khrai and Saeka and even Izumi felt much the same.

She walked out of the kitchen with a cup of tea and crossed the hallway into the dimly lit living room, where Sasuke was curled up on the couch. It looked like he may have fallen asleep again. His fever had gone up a few degrees when she'd checked it earlier, but it remained mostly stable under a hundred and four. That was low enough that neither she nor Izumi felt the need to sound the alarms yet, so Kaisuki had simply been tending to his symptoms.

"Sasuke? Are you awake?" She called as she sat on the edge of the coffee table by his head. "Hey, don't be dying on me, you diseased child."

Sasuke coughed but she recognized the sound of his laughter. He slowly rolled onto his back so he could see her, draping an arm over his eyes and peeking out from the shadow cast beneath his sleeve. "I'm older than you."

Kaisuki snorted. "Age is only a number."

Her brother chuckled. He looked terrible. "You're a turd," he teased tiredly.

"Shut up and drink your tea, butt-head." Kaisuki smiled when her quip managed to elicit a genuine laugh from Sasuke. She hadn't heard him laugh in _years_. Or at least, she hadn't heard him laugh as hard as he did.

_You're miserable, aren't you?_

She pushed the thought down before she started to dwell on it and held out the tea for him to take. Sasuke took a moment to adjust himself - so that he was sitting upright and could actually drink his tea without spilling it all over himself - before he took the cup from her.

" _Hey, what's good_?" Khrai greeted as she walked up behind Izumi and Kaisuki from the darkness behind them. " _Anything interesting happening?_ "

" _Not at the moment,_ " Izumi replied before Kaisuki's could. " _How is Saeka?_ "

" _She'll be fine_ ," Khrai replied, looking at Sasuke over their shoulders. " _He looks terrible_."

Kaisuki snorted. " _He's probably not feeling great, either._ "

The three of them watched as Sasuke sipped at the warm beverage, staring down at the cup with an unreadable look on his face. She didn't know what to make of it. All she could really say was that he looked vaguely unhappy all of a sudden. Could he not simply feel good for more than an instant?

 _I'll_ _ **kill**_ _you, Teara_.

"What's up?" Kaisuki asked. Sasuke's face fell.

"I feel like..." he started and then stopped. She could see him changing his mind about what he was saying. "Like Itachi should be home by now."

" _He's become a terrible liar,_ " Khrai commented offhandedly. Izumi hummed in acknowledgment but didn't say anything.

The Yurei frowned slightly, glancing at the clock. It was quarter to midnight, which meant that Itachi had been gone for three and a half days. According to Sasuke, the first and last time Wolf had arrested Itachi, he'd been gone for a little over twenty-four hours. The jump from one day to almost four days was concerning. Had they killed him? Had he made a run for it with Madara? What could possibly excuse Wolf keeping him for _so_ long?

She opened her mouth to call Sasuke out on his lie but was interrupted by the startlingly loud sound of the door opening. She looked over her shoulder towards the entrance to the apartment but she couldn't see through the shadows well enough to see who it was. Saeka was still absent and had been since Sasuke and Kaisuki's conversation about Teara starving him for sleep, so she couldn't ask the youngest spirit for her assistance.

" _That's probably Itachi,_ " Khrai stated bluntly. Kaisuki knew she was right, but she felt anxious anyway for an unknown reason. Probably because she was tending to a sick person.

There was a rather resounding silence after the door was heard closing, and Kaisuki looked over at Sasuke momentarily before she stood up and headed out to the entryway. She ghosted her fingers over the bookcase on her right until she found the main light switch for the living room. The room behind her brightened up immediately and instantly she could see who had decided to grace them with his presence.

" _Oh, oh sweetheart_ ," Izumi breathed, her voice raw.

Itachi was leaned up against the door, cradling his right arm. His eyes were squeezed shut but seconds after the lights were turned on, he opened them and looked towards Kaisuki. His expression was haunted and _exhausted_ and his face paler than she'd ever seen it.

Kaisuki walked over to him quickly, "Gods," she managed to say before she figured out something more productive to start with. "Can you walk from here to the couch or should I get Khrai to carry you?"

" _I am more than willing,_ " Khrai stated, her voice tense. Kaisuki could feel the elf's anger seeping forward, could feel the static-like sensation of that corrosive chakra under her skin.

Itachi shook his head and she wasn't entirely sure which half of her sentence he was replying to until he straightened up off the door and started limping towards the couch. The way he was moving, one would almost think his assigned irou-nin (whoever they were) hadn't healed him at all. Kaisuki followed him to the couch and he fell into the seat near Sasuke's feet. He sank into the cushions, his face screwed up in pain again.

" _Kaisuki,_ " Izumi's voice snapped her out of a reverie of staring at Itachi in dismay and she swallowed hard and immediately pulled back on her reigns. Izumi hastily took over and Kaisuki remained directly beside her so she could observe the irou-nin's actions and the scene itself more closely.

"Itachi-kun," Izumi spoke softly, "can you tell me what hurts the most?"

Itachi swallowed hard, cracking open his eyes. "My shoulder," he croaked.

Izumi nodded. "Your right shoulder, correct?"

The Uchiha nodded silently, closing his eyes again and drawing his eyebrows together. He looked like he was in agony. Izumi leaned over him, reaching out and holding her hand over his bruised and swollen shoulder. The inflammation felt hot and angry against Izumi's chakra and she could feel that energy as though it were part of her hand.

Kaisuki glanced back at Khrai, who was staring at Itachi. Her jaw was tight and her eyes were reflecting nothing but rage. She looked to be on the cusp of a rampage.

" _You okay?_ " Kaisuki asked quietly, not wanting to distract Izumi. The elf shook her head, taking a step back. Her whole body was shaking at that point, from head to toe.

" _No,_ " she replied stiffly. " _I'm not. I'll be back later._ " She managed to say before she turned and stalked out of sight, disappearing into the darkness. They were down two at that point. Hopefully Izumi wouldn't get upset to the point that she had to leave as well. Kaisuki wasn't usually able to deal with crises if she didn't have someone to help her think.

Izumi pulled back on her chakra somewhat after she'd finished assessing the damage and Kaisuki felt her energy take on a cooler, more nurturing tone as she started healing the damage being caused by the swelling itself.

"Sasuke," she turned towards Itachi's little brother. "Could I persuade you to get me one of those pots of dirt?"

Sasuke had been mutely staring at Itachi with a distraught look on his face, but he nodded nonetheless and picked himself up off the couch. Kaisuki could hear his footsteps trailing away for a moment before they returned and a pot of dirt was held out in Izumi's peripheral vision.

The irou-nin indicated the couch beside Itachi, "can you hold my dirt upright there?"

Sasuke hummed in acknowledgment and placed the pot where he'd been directed to, cupping the sides with his hands to hold it steady and then sitting down on the coffee table. Izumi reached over and dipped her fingers into the dirt, sprouting a couple of whiteheart flowers and some mint from nothing.

"One more thing, Sasuke," she requested sheepishly. "Can you make me a salve? Just add a little water and grind up the leaves from the mint and the petals from the flowers. There's a mortar and pestle in Kaisuki's bag."

"Yea, no problem," Sasuke sounded distracted but he got up and went about preforming his task without question.

The sound of Sasuke tinkering around the apartment and coughing occasionally faded into the background. " _He looks like he's in agony_ ," Kaisuki mumbled, her heart aching. She hated seeing her brothers in such a state.

"Itachi-kun, are you okay?" Izumi called gently. Her chakra was still doing battle with the swelling and it looked like it was causing Itachi a great deal of pain.

"Yes," the Uchiha hoarsely replied in a wavering voice. "I'm... I'm f-fine."

"You're doing great, sweetie," Izumi crooned. "Is there anything else that hurts right now?"

Itachi shook his head. "No," he breathed. "Just... my shoulder."

"Alright," came the gentle reply. Kaisuki suddenly felt that it sounded strange when her voice was used to call Itachi 'sweetie'. "I'm going to give you a very intense whiteheart therapy session for your shoulder, alright? I'm going to try and take out as much of that scar tissue as I can, before it gets any worse."

Itachi cracked an eye open. "Is it... bad?"

Kaisuki felt her lips purse on her corporeal body and glanced over at Izumi from within, but irou-nin wasn't looking at her at all. "It is," Izumi answered stiffly. She sounded extremely unhappy. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say your irou-nin doesn't like you. They haven't been fully repairing your shoulder, I gather, so it hasn't been healing right any of the thousands of times Wolf's done something or another to it."

Kaisuki's stomach dropped. The woman's expression was calm and collected but the Yurei could see a _burning_ rage reflected in her green eyes. "I've never seen such _inadequacy_ before," she hotly stated.

Itachi closed his eye again and coughed weakly. "It's fine," he muttered softly. "It doesn't matter."

" _For_ _ **fuck's sake**_ _, you two,_ " Kaisuki muttered to herself.

There was a brief pause before Izumi responded in a frosty voice, "It matters to _me_ , Uchiha Itachi, and I should think you would know that without me having to say it."

Kaisuki watched Itachi's face relax and the corner of his lips twitch towards a bitter smile. She knew Izumi did as well because the irou-nin focused her hostess' eyes on it. Izumi huffed irritably and Itachi's minuscule smile broadened just slightly.

"I'm sorry, Izumi," he quietly apologized, his eyebrows knitting together again. He looked like he was about to cry.

The sound of footsteps approaching alerted them to the fact that Sasuke was returning. Kaisuki felt her lips turn up into a gentle smile, even though she could see nothing but sadness in Izumi's eyes when she looked over at the woman.

"You don't have to apologize," Izumi whispered to him, quietly enough that Sasuke wouldn't hear her. "You and Sasuke don't seem to know any better."

That time, Itachi opened both his eyes and looked at Izumi with an unreadable glint reflected in his gaze.

Sasuke appeared beside Izumi and wordlessly handed her the stone bowl, full of expertly ground petals and leaves. The irou-nin received it with a quiet word of thanks, pulling her other, glowing hand away from Itachi's shoulder and dipping her fingers into the bowl. She scooped up a healthy amount of the salve and, as carefully as she possibly could, spread it over Itachi's shoulder.

Her hand began to glow a deep, rich green and Kaisuki watched the whiteheart elements in the salve slowly start to sink into Itachi's skin, leaving the mint behind. Izumi then handed the bowl back to Sasuke, who had sat down to Itachi's right, and used her newly freed hand to push more chakra into Itachi's shoulder, forcing the whiteheart to sink in with it.

The older Uchiha hissed, his face screwed up in agony. He leaned his head back and groaned. It didn't escape Kaisuki's attention just how sensitive he was, nor did his uneven, somewhat wet breathing. He hadn't at any point brought up the Inflammatory Lung Syndrome to Izumi, but there was no way he'd just gotten over it.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" Izumi asked as she scooped another handful of salve out and continued her treatment, her gaze lifting to scrutinize Itachi's face. He'd lost a considerable amount of color and his lips were slightly parted. "You don't sound too well."

"I have... pneumonia... again," Itachi mumbled softly. Izumi kept watching his face, even as she started absorbing the whiteheart into tissue again. Itachi looked like he wanted to be _shrieking_ in agony. Kaisuki could only _imagine_ just how much pain he had to be in.

Her heart was hammering away and her head was buzzing with anger. What she wouldn't give to have the opportunity and reason to kill Wolf.

"Pneumonia?" Izumi repeated, sounding concerned immediately. "You've had it before, recently?"

Itachi opened his eyes and looked at her. Kaisuki wondered if he was glad to have the excuse to not think about the pain. Izumi was already reaching for more of the salve, though Kaisuki could see how much the swelling had gone down. It was probably half the size it had been, while the redness from the irritation and the remaining bruises were just beginning to fade. Itachi's expression was beginning to relax a little, so clearly the whiteheart and mint were finally starting to help with the pain.

"Yes," Itachi replied, looking slightly confused for a moment. Then, he muttered more to himself than to Izumi or Sasuke, "I didn't tell you... the whole story."

Izumi nodded and when Kaisuki looked towards her, she looked somewhat pleased. "What story?" She asked, curiosity in her voice.

"I told... Sasuke," Itachi began weakly. "That I made a trip to Tsuki no Kuni and was cured of that... disease."

Izumi paused, her chakra even freezing for a split instant. "You went to Tsuki no Kuni?"

"What I told Sasuke is only half true," he continued, swallowing. "What really happened was... Madara possessed me the instant my heart stopped," he let out a long-suffering sigh, "and forced my body to keep going. He then walked me across the ocean to 'persuade' the locals to help me.

Izumi's eyes were wide at that point. "He what?"

"No," Itachi clarified, clearing his throat. "He used my Sharingan, he didn't hurt anyone. Or at least, he didn't tell me if he did."

That didn't seem to make Izumi feel better about anything at all, and Itachi was clearly able to tell. He cleared his throat again, that time likely unnecessarily, and continued. "By the time I woke up again, I was in a hotel in Nami no Kuni. He explained what happened and I yelled at him and then didn't speak to him for a week."

There was a silence that stretched for a good two minutes before Izumi suddenly asked. "How is your vision?"

Itachi pursed his lips, "For some reason it's back to one hundred percent. It doesn't even seem to be getting worse when I use Tsukuyomi, and I've used it about a dozen times since... since I woke up, I guess." He sighed out the last bit somewhat lamely.

Sasuke was staring at Itachi with wide eyes, looking somewhat horrified. He was probably trying to wrap his brain around Madara - a normal human soul - possessing Itachi. That was basically what Kaisuki was doing.

" _Kaisuki, where did Khrai go?_ " Izumi asked, glanced towards her hostess from within. Kaisuki looked over at her briefly and frowned, gesturing towards the darkness.

" _She went to go be angry,_ " Kaisuki explained apologetically. " _Sorry, I should've tried to keep her here_."

" _No,_ " Izumi disagreed immediately. " _It's better that she left. She has a hard enough time keeping her temper in check in regards to Wolf without having to see any more of this_."

Kaisuki nodded and didn't say anything further, as she wasn't sure what else to say. "How is Madara, Itachi-kun?" Izumi asked as she applied the fifth or sixth helping of her salve.

Itachi looked like he was in _much_ less pain at that point but at the mention of Madara, his face fell. "He's..." he began slowly, looking extremely upset. "I don't.... know. Wolf didn't tell me anything. I don't know if he's even..."

He trailed off into silence, his lower lip trembling. Sasuke leaned over and rested his head on his brother's left shoulder but he didn't speak. "It'll be alright, Itachi-kun," Izumi said softly.

Kaisuki glanced over at her again, wondering if the irou-nin was as concerned about Itachi's future mental health as her hostess immediately was. She wished Saeka would return from wherever she'd gone. If she could find Madara's chakra signature, they would know if he was dead or alive. Not knowing had to be _killing_ Itachi.

Sasuke straightened up from leaning on Itachi for the express purpose of sneezing into his elbow. Itachi turned his head to look at his little brother, his brow furrowing. "Are you sick, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sniffled and lowered his arm. He looked completely awful. "Only a little," he lied.

"No, he's quite sick," Izumi overruled, scooping up the last of the salve and applying it where it needed to be. "He has a high fever, among some other things. It's probably just a cold, maybe a flu. I'm going to send you both to bed soon. You're probably going to get sick though, Itachi-kun."

Itachi frowned but didn't say anything. He didn't seem to like the sound of that. Izumi withdrew her chakra and started rubbing the minty remains of the salve into Itachi's shoulder, the glowing from her hand dimming until it disappeared entirely. She continued to rub it in gently for a little while longer before she retracted her hands and nodded at her work. The swelling had been _significantly_ reduced and Itachi was visibly feeling much better.

"Alright," Izumi straightened up and grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table to wipe off her hands. "I'm going to make you two up something to help you sleep, and then you're both going to bed. You'll talk to Kaisuki in the morning."

The two of them blinked, looking somewhat confused, but neither said anything. Izumi reached over to the pot of dirt and ripped up the plants that had grown in it before dipping her fingers back into the soil. Within a few seconds, a new set of plants had grown in the pot and Izumi was plucking leaves from them.

"I'll be right back," Izumi told the boys before she took the leaves she had picked and headed off into the kitchen. Kaisuki watched her own hands as they rinsed off the mortar and pestle. Izumi turned on the kettle and then went about grinding up her leaves while she leaned against the counter.

Her hands were shaky. She could feel it and it was strange. Kaisuki looked over at the spirit beside her, brow furrowing. Izumi looked exhausted internally, but she seemed to be hiding it from the Uchiha brothers well.

" _Izumi, are you alright?_ " The Yurei asked uncertainly.

Izumi smiled but didn't look her way. " _I'm fine, Kaisuki, just worn out. That treatment took a bit out of me. I'll be fine after I get some rest._ "

Kaisuki nodded slowly, looking back out into the real world. " _I don't like that we have to leave them here_ ," she softly mumbled. She felt Izumi look towards her but didn't meet the irou-nin's gaze. " _Neither of them deserve to live in constant fear of arrest or execution or_ _ **interrogation**_."

The woman beside her sighed softly but Kaisuki still didn't look at her. " _I agree with you_ ," she replied sadly. " _If we decide to break them out, know that I won't be against it_."

Kaisuki chuckled, forlorn. " _Itachi seems like he's trying really hard to pay his penance. He... he'll probably never forgive himself._ "

" _No_ ," Izumi sighed again, this time more heavily, " _he probably won't. Itachi-kun believes he's a villain even more than the village does_."

The thought made her heart ache because she knew it was true. Kaisuki and Sasuke had been talking about Itachi on and off since she'd gotten there, and he'd told her of Itachi's recent turning into a pushover. He'd told her that he'd smashed his brother's head off a table and given him a black eye on two separate occasions before anyone realized he was possessed, and Itachi hadn't seemed to notice until Sasuke covered the bathroom mirror nearly a week after the second incident.

Something was definitely off with Itachi, but Kaisuki wasn't sure if it was directly related to Madara's absence or not. Itachi hadn't said how long the newly undead Uchiha had been gone, though Sasuke had mentioned that Itachi had been out of sorts for "weeks", but that wasn't all that specific. She'd have to ask them about it in the morning.

Izumi was finishing up pouring tea into cups when Kaisuki started paying attention again. The irou-nin took both of the cups and carried them into the living room. "Here you go," she said, handing them each a cup. Itachi's hand was shaking and Kaisuki noticed it right away. "Drink this while I'm making your beds, and then you can both hit the hay. Itachi, is it alright with you if Sasuke shares your room, seeing as he's ill?"

Itachi shook his head right away as he was sipping the hot beverage. "I don't mind," he quietly replied.

Izumi smiled in slight exasperation. "Alright then, I'll be back shortly."

" _Itachi's hands are shaky, did you see that?_ " Kaisuki mentioned, looking over at her as she was walking her hostess into Itachi's bedroom. " _Is that low blood sugar or...?_ "

" _That's low blood sugar,_ " Izumi replied without hesitation. She pulled open a closet and started pulling down the rolled up futons. " _He probably hasn't eaten since before he went to the station._ "

Kaisuki hummed in acknowledgment. " _Okay. I'll have to make them breakfast in the morning._ "

Izumi nodded. " _That sounds like a good idea, Kaisuki._ " She laid out Sasuke's futon beside Itachi's, straightening out the blankets and fluffing pillows before she straightened up and nodded at her work. Then, she walked back out to the living room, where Itachi and Sasuke were just finishing their tea. They already looked like they were falling asleep where they were sitting.

"Okay, boys," Izumi called as she walked into the living room. She beckoned them, "I've made your beds. You can just leave your cups." She added when Itachi reached for the cup he'd set down on the coffee table. He looked over at her briefly before he and Sasuke slowly peeled themselves off the couch and started shuffling towards the hall.

Izumi stepped out of their way and they walked down the hall together. "Goodnight, you two."

Sasuke waved over his shoulder while Itachi actually replied, "Goodnight, Izumi."

There was a brief pause as they disappeared into Itachi's room before Izumi glanced over at Kaisuki and then stepped down from the reigns. Kaisuki smiled at her and stepped back in control of her body. She clenched her fists a few times before she walked back into the living room and dropped herself on the couch. She'd try to get a little sleep, but she could faintly hear Khrai yelling and snarling and (by the sounds of it) breaking things in the back of her mind. The racket was likely to keep her awake, though she didn't say anything. If Khrai needed to blow off steam, Kaisuki _definitely_ needed to let her.

Tomorrow, she would talk to Itachi and Sasuke about Madara and they'd get that sorted out as best they could.

_Assuming Itachi_ _**can** _ _._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TO BE UPDATED BIWEEKLY, STARTED TODAY:  
> No Sympathy From The Devil  
> Sasuke never finished his battle with Itachi and he didn't make it back to Team Hebi, either. No, he's under the care of a sadistic homunculus that was never supposed to see the light of day. If he doesn't speak, he won't get hurt. If he does what he's told, he's rewarded. He just has to follow the rules until he can get away. No problem... right? Trigger warning: conditioning, Stockholm Syndrome, rape/non-con, M/M


	22. codependent forevermore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, on ff.net I reposted chapter 17. So, if you haven't by 6/23/2017, you need to reread chapters 8, 9, 10, 12, 17, 19, and 20. Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience! A lot has changed since I started this story. Honestly, after I finish Within an Endless Night, I'm going to rewrite like 60% or more of Beneath a Steel Sky because, if I don't, the story isn't going to make a lick of sense.

_**22.** _

"Tsunade-sama is calling for you."

Itachi froze. Immediately, his head was running in a hundred different directions at once. What did she want? Was she just calling him or did she want Sasuke to come as well? Was it about Madara? Was their gracious Hokage being courteous enough to tell him that she was going to kill Madara or were they post-execution by now? Was he about to be arrested and thrown back in prison permanently? Had he blown his last chance? Had they already decided what they were going to do with the situation or were they calling him in because they were uncertain?

Did they have more questions? He'd already explained everything about Madara, about how the ghost had come into his life, how long they'd been together, the different ways they interacted as well as the ways Madara helped him in his day-to-day. He'd told them about how Madara had disappeared a few weeks ago and how he had sunk into a deep, deep depression as a result. He'd told them that he had thought the ghost wasn't coming back and hadn't even realized that he'd been resurrected until he'd shown up in the hospital.

He'd told them _everything_ and he didn't think for a second that anyone believed him.

"Itachi? Is everything..." He heard Kaisuki's voice start and then trail off behind him and winced before he could stop himself.

"I'll be over shortly," he finally managed to say automatically. The ANBU Cat (she was one of his direct handlers, beneath Wolf) who had shown up to give the notice was clearly glaring at him, even though he couldn't see her face at all. Nevertheless, she huffed.

"Very well. You have half an hour to be there before someone comes to collect you."

Itachi swallowed and nodded mutely, even though he knew the Hokage's office building was a twenty minute walk. Cat turned and a moment later she was gone, stalking back the way she'd come for a moment before she vanished from sight. He took a couple of unsteady steps back, letting go of the door and allowing it to fall shut.

His heart was hammering away in his throat. He hadn't been allowed to see Madara for the entire duration of the time Wolf had kept him (apparently more than three days). He didn't know how his ghostly companion was doing. He didn't know if the man was even still alive. For all he knew, they'd killed him long before Itachi had arrived.

He'd stupidly made the mistake of asking after Madara almost as soon as he laid eyes on Wolf, so the man had made a specific point to not tell Itachi anything about the once-ghost. Wolf hadn't even left the room, leading Itachi to suspect that he'd either been a kage bunshin or he had a kage bunshin. He couldn't imagine Wolf leaving Madara alone for an instant, especially if he'd decided to believe that the undead Uchiha was who he said he was.

Assuming Madara was still alive, of course. It was possible that Wolf hadn't left the room because he hadn't needed to. It was possible that Madara had already been killed. It was possible that he'd been dead before Itachi had even gotten to the station. Madara may have been too mouthy and gotten himself killed. It wasn't like anyone had a reason to let him live if Itachi had already given up his arsenal of secrets.

There was nothing new Madara could give them and, once they realized that, they'd probably just execute him.

He didn't know how long he'd been standing in front of the door before someone grabbed his arm and turned him around. His head felt like it was full of air, his chest was tight, his knees wanted to buckle, and he was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was shaking.

Kaisuki was standing in front of him, eyes wide and full of concern. "Itachi?" She called, her tone and volume implying that she had probably been repeating herself for a good deal of time. "Itachi, can you hear me?"

"I'm fine," he automatically said. Then he realized that that wasn't an appropriate response. "I can hear you."

Kaisuki didn't look convinced at all. Itachi watched Sasuke come into view from somewhere, looking equally worried. The Yurei turned around to face Itachi's little brother, "I think he's in shock or something, he didn't hear me for the first twelve times I called him."

"I'm fine, Kaisuki," Itachi reiterated stonily, feeling increasingly as though he was going to lose his mind. He wasn't fine at all, so why was he saying that he was? "I have to go see Tsunade-sama." _Oh, right._

Kaisuki looked back at him, alarmed. "Why?" She wanted to know immediately. Itachi stared at her.

"I don't know," was the only semi-intelligent phrase he could think of. He didn't know. It was accurate and straight to the point. "I have to be there in half an hour or they're going to send someone to retrieve me."

There was a pause. Sasuke and Kaisuki both looked like they wanted to tell him to stay home. He pulled his arm out of Kaisuki's hand. His whole body felt like it was made of soggy noodles but he forced himself to walk past her and then Sasuke, making a beeline for his room. He had probably lost about fifteen minutes just standing around staring off into space and then talking to Kaisuki.

There was a knock on the door to his room about two minutes after he'd closed it. "Itachi," Kaisuki called through the wood as he pulled his shirt the rest of the way on. "I'm coming with you. We both are." She sounded very serious.

Itachi stared at the door for a second before he grabbed a pair of pants, shedding the ones he'd been wearing and throwing on the ones he'd pulled out. "I'm fine, Kaisuki," he repeated for the millionth time. "I don't need an escort."

"I literally _don't_ care," Kaisuki replied with emphasis. He decided as he was pulling his pants on that he was already tired of arguing with her and would drop it as soon as she gave him the opportunity to agree with it. "We're coming with you and that's final."

He almost wanted to pretend he was against the idea but he didn't have it in him. "Fine." He answered plainly. A moment later he heard her sigh and footsteps could be heard walking away from his door. He could faintly make out what sounded like her talking to Sasuke in hushed tones and he had a feeling they were talking about him.

He combed the knots out of his hair as he was walking out of his room and headed straight for the door. He didn't stop to see if Kaisuki and Sasuke were ready after he finished putting his shoes on, as he was sure they already were. He felt like he was moving very slowly but he wasn't positive if his perception of time was realistic or reliable at that time. Probably not. Otherwise he'd have been collected by then.

It felt like it'd already been hours since he'd answered the door. It felt like it'd been years since Madara was arrested.

.

By the time they got to the Hokage's office, he felt like he was going to throw up or pass out or both.

"Come in," they heard an irate voice call. Itachi swallowed the lump in his throat and opened the door, stepping inside. Tsunade-sama was already glaring at him, specifically.

"I didn't call for those two," she snapped after the door had closed behind the three of them.

Itachi's gaze dropped to the floor and he didn't know what to say.

"He didn't tell us to come," Kaisuki retorted agitatedly. "I decided that."

"Did you?" Tsunade-sama's tone was frosty, her brown eyes narrowed. "Because I'm deciding that the two of you," she indicated Kaisuki and Sasuke specifically, "can _get out_. This has _nothing_ to do with either of you."

"Itachi is dysfunctional to the point that I practically have to take care of him," Sasuke spoke up, sounding somewhat annoyed. Itachi _almost_ had it in him to be offended by the fact that they appeared to be treating him like a child. "I think this has a lot to do with me, actually."

"Enough, you two," the older Uchiha interjected in a quiet voice. "Just wait outside." He regretted it as soon as he said it but he didn't want to back down once it was out there. He didn't want to be alone for the conversation Tsunade-sama wanted to have, but he didn't think for a second that she would talk to him if they were standing there.

Kaisuki rounded on him, looking furious. "I'm not about to stand idly by while these fucks find excuse after excuse to be cruel to you, Itachi."

"She's not going to talk to me until you leave," he softly said. He understood her protectiveness, but right then wasn't the time for her to be playing mother hen.

At that, the Yurei gave pause. She looked far more injured than he felt she ought to. However, it also looked like she didn't have a viable argument against that. She had to already know that nobody amongst Konohagakure's brass cared about him _or_ Sasuke in any way, shape, manner or form at that point. They especially had it out for Itachi, for obvious reasons. There was no reason for her to try to argue for his sake because no one was going to so much as listen. He was glad that she and Sasuke were smart enough to recognize that fact.

He watched her open and close her mouth a few times before she dejectedly lowered her head. He wondered if she'd been hoping he'd let her fight for him. There was a pause before he saw her look towards Sasuke, who was standing out of his field of vision on his left side. He didn't know what kind of expression his little brother was wearing but Kaisuki didn't seem to agree with him.

"Fine," she muttered in reply, sounding very unhappy. "If you need us, we'll be _right_ outside the door."

Itachi nodded mutely. "I'll be fine," he wondered if Sasuke felt similarly when he was lying about how he felt. Tired, empty, apathetic...

Alone.

He didn't make eye contact with either Sasuke or Kaisuki (because he knew his eyes would be _pleading_ for them to stay) as they left the room. The sound of the door swinging shut was loud and it made his heart jump in his chest. He felt sick.

"Wolf has already told me everything you two have said thus far," Tsunade-sama started speaking right away. Itachi immediately wondered how much of what Wolf had told her was actually accurate. "It's irritating because I have no reason to believe either of you but your stories match despite not speaking to one another long enough to have formulated such a thorough lie."

Itachi's stomach was already sinking. "However, you're already walking on thin ice here, Itachi. Teara visiting you _within my village_ is bad enough all by himself, considering he's a huge part of the reason the Sandaime Hokage is _dead_ , but Uchiha Madara basically destroyed this whole village during my grandfather's time, more than once, in a variety of ways," Tsunade-sama ranted. Itachi was glad her knowledge of Teara was as limited as it appeared to be. "He is one of the world's most renowned villains. He's the ultimate reason your family had to be killed off. If you were trying to smuggle someone into the village, a plainer face would've worked better."

He looked up and met her hostile gaze. "I'm not trying to smuggle anyone in," Itachi stated in a monotonous voice. His chest felt like it had a hole in it. "And I know I explained that the Madara I know is not the same as the Madara who attacked the village."

"Right, right," the Hokage dryly responded. "The Madara that attacked the village was possessed, and the Madara you know is the half of his soul that was left elsewhere for a hundred plus years and you're conveniently the only person who could see him."

He clenched his jaw. He was running out of things to say very quickly. He dropped his gaze back to the ground, wanting very much to burst into tears but resisting the urge.

"You're taking good enough care of Sasuke that he's been out of my hair for a while, with the exception of this last incident with him being possessed again," Tsunade-sama said. "Do you know how that came about?"

Itachi shook his head just slightly. "No, not ... not yet. I haven't had the time to talk to him about it," he swallowed hard. "The only thing I can think of is that something must've happened while he was out on his last away mission."

"He wasn't exhibiting any signs at home?" She sounded suspicious and irritated. He couldn't tell if she was believing him at all and the lack of certainty was making him feel ever more ill.

Itachi's heart was racing. He sort of wanted to admit that he hadn't said anything about Sasuke giving him a black eye and a concussion, but he decided against it. "I didn't realize it until he covered the bathroom mirror. It was better at acting this time. I was going to come tell you but..."

"But?"

He bit his lip. "He stopped me before I left the house. I couldn't fight him off without killing him, so I just... let myself lose," he softly replied. Sasuke really was the number one way to get him to comply with pretty much anything. "Without my chakra, there was no way I was going to beat him in a fight anyway. Not with my arm like this."

Tsunade-sama frowned but she didn't say anything for a long moment. "Does anyone know why Sasuke keeps getting possessed?"

Itachi's stomach dropped at that, but he maintained his cool. "I don't think so, but I'm unsure," he told her. "Kaisuki said she was going to poke around and see if she could find out how and why Madara was resurrected, but I haven't spoken to her about what she's found yet."

Tsunade-sama frowned. "You haven't had time for that either?"

"I only got back from the station at midnight last night, after being gone for three days. Before that I was in the hospital, and before that I was locked in my room with several broken bones for I don't even know how long," he flatly replied. She was definitely searching for a hole in his story, but his eighty-five percent truthfulness was making it hard for her. "I haven't heard from Kaisuki in weeks. I think Sasuke may have been hiding her letters from me."

"You missed a lot recently, didn't you?" Came the dry retort. Itachi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had a headache.

"I haven't left the house in months unless it was with Sasuke, and even that was irregular and infrequent," he despairingly admitted as he let his arm drop back to his side. Something shifted in Tsunade-sama's gaze, a look almost like sympathy crossing her expression for just an instant. Where did that come from? "I hadn't really cared much to pay attention to anything, because... because I didn't know where Madara was. So yes, I have missed quite a lot."

There was a pause. Tsunade-sama was still glaring at him but the harshness of her gaze seemed to be less intense. She looked vaguely annoyed and seemed to be deep in thought, but he still wasn't positive if she believed him. He wished she would.

"Is there any way to prove his identity?" Tsunade-sama asked. "I'm trying to _stupidly_ give you the benefit of the doubt, Itachi, but you need to throw me a bone."

Itachi's mouth went dry. He didn't have an answer to that question. He didn't think they had any of Madara's DNA to compare. He didn't think Saeka could check his chakra because she didn't know Uchiha Madara's chakra. Besides, Kaisuki was a friend of his - Tsunade-sama had _no_ reason to believe a word she said in his favor.

The only thing he could think of was a fact-check, but he didn't know if there was anything that he knew that _only_ Madara would know at that point.

"I..." he began, his heart stuttering in his chest. It seemed at that moment as though Madara were still alive but if he couldn't think of a reliable way for Tsunade-sama to confirm his identity, the once-ghost wouldn't be alive for much longer.

The Hokage was watching him carefully and he was trying to think but his mind was running off towards a thousand different catastrophes and he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to _say_. There was no way to confirm a story like the one Itachi had to tell. There was _nothing_. So what was he supposed to do? What _could_ he do? Was there anyone left in the village who had known Madara at one point? Madara didn't have any surviving relatives, obviously, so that wasn't an option. Even if he had, none of them would remember him after over a hundred years.

_What do I say?_

"I don't know," he finally managed to force out after a good five minutes of silence, his stomach rolling. He took in a shuddering breath and made himself continue even though he had no idea what else to say. "He obviously doesn't have any surviving relatives, I don't know where I could find his remains for a DNA test, and no one alive remembers him. I don't what I could _possibly_ give you to-..."

Itachi sucked in a lungful of air as his throat constricted and the resulting sound was close to a wheeze. He pressed a hand to his chest and hunched forward, trying to catch his breath. He couldn't see Tsunade-sama at that point, as his eyes were on the floor, so he jumped when he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

"Fine, fine," she was saying as she guided him somewhere and pushed him to sit down in an armchair. She still sounded very annoyed with him. "Stop hyperventilating. I'm trying to work with you but I can't do that if you can't stay calm."

At that point he was hunched over his knees, shoulders shaking uncontrollably, face buried in his hands. He nodded in response to Tsunade-sama, taking in several shaky breaths. He was having real difficulty remaining calm and collected about the situation with Madara and he wasn't entirely sure why. He'd never had such issue being separated from _anyone_ before. It had started in prison and had only gotten worse since getting out. He was so tired of the constant mood swings and panic attacks.

_Is this what it's like, Sasuke? To lose your other half?_

The thought struck him as odd but he didn't dwell on it. "Sorry," he whispered into his hands. Tsunade-sama didn't reply right away, but after a moment she grunted in acknowledgment.

"I'm going to have Wolf bring him in here," Tsunade-sama started talking again, "and I'm not going to tell you why. But you're going to stay away from him and he's going to stay away from you, understand?"

Itachi lifted his head, eyes wide. Tsunade-sama looked at him as though he'd grown another head. He hadn't been positive that Madara was alive the entire time, but if she was bringing him there, he could be certain. His heart stuttered in his chest. What if it was a lie, though? What if it was someone with a kage bunshin? No, he'd recognize Madara's chakra at that point, even though he'd only been near it for about ten minutes before the man had been taken away from him.

He sucked in another shaky breath and nodded. Tsunade-sama frowned again and walked back over to her desk for a moment. "Wait here," she commanded, walking away from her furniture and over to the wall that held the door to the passage that lead to the prison. "Don't touch anything."

He decided not to point out that he wasn't actually a kleptomaniac _or_ a five year-old (even five year-old Itachi was better behaved than that). Itachi nodded silently, swallowing the lump that was building in his throat. The Hokage glared at him one last time before she slid the passage door open and stepped into darkness, down a flight of stairs.

It was silent for about two minutes before he heard footsteps coming up the stairs - three sets, and the sound of chains. His heart swelled in his chest at the same time his stomach did several flips. He felt like he was about to be sick but he mastered himself as best he could and stood up moments before Tsunade-sama stepped back out through the passage.

Wolf came through after the Hokage, holding a length of chain in his hand that was clearly attached to the person following him. A second after, Madara stepped up onto the carpeted floor and halted at the sight of Itachi.

Wolf had already gripped the man's bicep but there was a nearly vicious need in Madara's eyes and Itachi knew what he was about to do before he even started doing it. The undead man took three steps without his escort before anyone could even speak. He wound up jerking Wolf into motion with him before the interrogator could put the brakes on and even then it was clear that he was putting a lot of effort into it.

"Madara," Itachi immediately spoke, his heart hammering in his throat. "Behave yourself."

The once-ghost stared at him as though he'd been asked to explain to them why he had been resurrected in twenty words or less. He opened his mouth to say something but he apparently couldn't find his words for some reason. He turned his gaze on Wolf for a moment and Itachi could see the raw desire to kill him.

" _Madara_ ," he ground out, wanting to hit him very hard and knowing that there was no way he'd get the opportunity to.

"Enough, all of you," Tsunade-sama snarled, slamming her hand down on her desk. The undead Uchiha blinked, looking somewhat startled for a moment before his gaze evened out to its usual neutrality. The Hokage looked furious, "I didn't let you come up here so you could cause a scene, _Uchiha Madara_ ," she spat.

Madara looked highly offended by her very dry tone but he didn't say anything. Itachi immediately found it odd. "I asked Itachi if there was a way to confirm who you are and he couldn't think of anything. Do you have an idea?"

The once-ghost's face blanked. He blinked several times, eyebrows knitting together as he looked over at Itachi. He opened and closed his mouth several times and then looked back to Tsunade-sama. He appeared to be perturbed.

"I realize now how inconvenient this is. Itachi, you should've just told someone years ago. This is a disaster." He said flatly. "I have no idea, I don't have any living relatives, obviously, no one would remember me by face, and to be perfectly honest I would rather no one even knew I was in the village."

Itachi felt his stomach drop. He didn't know why he hadn't been expecting that. "How do you expect me to believe either of you if you can't prove who you are?" Tsunade-sama deadpanned. "Given your collective service records, I can't exactly trust you alone in an apartment with Itachi and Sasuke anyway."

He was reasonably certain that he was drowning in air at that point. He was shaking from head to foot and he couldn't process what he was listening to. He didn't know what he was thinking; he was just feeling the results of it.

What could he do?

There was no way he was going to succeed in getting Madara and Sasuke and Kaisuki out of the village at that moment. Trying to escape and run away just wasn't a plausible option. There was no way he was going to convince Tsunade-sama not to kill Madara either, though. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He was rooted to the spot and his voice had completely died in his throat.

"I need something - _anything_ \- if I'm going to believe for a second that you're actually who you say you are and your intentions aren't hostile," Tsunade-sama continued. Itachi could barely understand what she was saying. "Uchiha Madara has a very large section in our history textbooks for a reason. He's always been known as a threat for a reason. The leader of Akatsuki uses his name as an alias for a reason."

"Used," Madara said, his expression shifting somewhat. Itachi could read him at all. What was he thinking? What was he going to do? His stomach was churning and bile was trying to rise up his throat. He wanted to speak, to answer Tsunade-sama's questions and put her worries to rest, but he couldn't find his voice.

The Hokage cocked an eyebrow and said something but Itachi couldn't hear it. His brain was shutting down functions all over the place and he felt like he was going to either lose his mind or fall into a sudden coma. Madara's lips were moving; he was responding to whatever Tsunade-sama had said, but Itachi still couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't _process_ anything.

He lowered his gaze to the floor a couple feet in front of him, trying to shut down the catastrophes that _would not_ stop plaguing his imagination. He needed to calm down; he needed to _think_. There had to be _something_ he could do, something he could say to diffuse the situation and persuade the Hokage to trust Madara. Even if it was less trust than she extended to Itachi, he _didn't care_.

He _needed_ Madara; he couldn't be expected to live without him for any amount of time ever again. If they killed the undead Uchiha, Itachi didn't think he could keep living.

Not even for Sasuke.

Someone abruptly grabbed his shoulders and shook him _hard_ , jostling his bad shoulder enough to _really_ hurt. He blinked rapidly and jerked away, eyes wide and barely focused. A pair of forest green eyes were all he could make out for a moment. Everything seemed to be getting louder again, voices returning to their normal volume, no longer muted. His vision unfocused and refocused several times before he was able to process the scene before him.

Sasuke was standing about a foot behind Izumi, who was still holding onto his arms, scrutinizing him carefully with eyes full of worry. Madara was still standing on the other side of the room, but his face was white and his eyes were huge and he was visibly straining against the iron shackles on his arms. Wolf seemed to have disappeared in the amount of time Itachi was spacing out for. Tsunade-sama was standing right where she'd been, behind her desk. Everyone was staring at Itachi for some reason.

He took a step back from Izumi and his legs hit the chair he'd been standing in front of. The impact was enough to drop him into the seat, at which point he realized that his shaking had worsened and his chest felt so tight he could barely inhale.

"Itachi-kun? Are you alright?" Izumi was saying in a measured voice. He nodded automatically, not even thinking about what she had said. She didn't look like she believed him.

"Itachi," Madara's voice drew his attention much faster than anyone else speaking would've. He was smiling reassuringly. "Calm down. We might actually have a breakthrough here, but you need to calm down first."

Itachi hadn't heard him speak so levelly in a long time. He wanted to reply but he still couldn't remember how to use his voice, so he just nodded mutely. He was still struggling to not throw up. Madara pursed his lips and gave him a curt nod. Itachi was reasonably certain his heart was going to explode out of his chest.

"Itachi-kun?" Izumi was talking to him again so he forced himself to look at her instead of drinking in the details of Madara's face (just in case he never saw him again). The irou-nin still looked very worried. "Can you talk to me?"

He opened his mouth but he had no idea what he was even going to say so he closed it again. Instead, he just shrugged. He didn't know what to say and he still felt like he was dying. Right then was not a good time to be trying to bring him back to a responsive state.

There was a knock on the door and it startled him but he didn't flinch, even though he thought he was going to. Izumi straightened up and he watched her legs step backwards, out of his field of vision. That prompted him to lift his head as Tsunade-sama was giving whoever was at the door permission to enter her office.

Wolf walked in with someone else that Itachi didn't recognize. The man was wearing the Tiger ANBU mask and he looked significantly more intimidating than Wolf. The new Tiger (the Tiger Itachi had known during his enlistment had been female) was to Wolf as Kisame was to Itachi - taller, bulkier, and clearly every bit as powerful as he looked.

However, unlike Wolf, he didn't carry an air of arrogance so Itachi already didn't mind him as much.

"Tiger," Tsunade-sama greeted, her lips pursed. "Has Wolf filled you in?"

Tiger gave her a nod. "I am to compare the chakra of two individuals to prove one's identity, correct?"

_Oh._

The newcomer, Tiger, was a sensory-type, then. Anyone who could use chakra could sense chakra, but sensory types could read chakra in ways that others couldn't. There weren't very many of them, and the ones that did exist were just short of enslaved by their villages or masters. If there was one thing Itachi was thankful for, it was that he hadn't been born to such a fate.

"Yes," the Hokage was replying to Tiger. Itachi's brow came together. Who's chakra were they comparing? There wasn't anyone in the room who ought to have a chakra signature like Madara's, right? His heart rate was rising again. He had missed too much while he'd been spacing out and now he didn't know what was going on and it didn't seem like anyone cared to tell him.

"Wolf, take the chakra inhibitors off of him," Tsunade-sama jabbed a finger at Madara. "Izumi, whenever you're ready."

He wanted to ask what was going on but he didn't want to draw attention to himself in his current condition. Wolf walked over to Madara, trying to look threatening alongside his colleague and being completely overshadowed. The undead Uchiha noticed it and he smiled pityingly at the interrogator. Itachi watched Wolf's hands curl into fists a moment before he grabbed Madara's wrist and shoved a key into the lock on the shackles he was wearing.

The first shackle coming off had no effect whatsoever, but when Wolf took off the second one the atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. Itachi could tell that Madara was caging his chakra quite a lot, but still flexing it just enough to fill the room with its presence. It was hot and vicious and wilder than any other chakra Itachi knew, with the exception of... of...

_"Aniki, there's a fire! A fire at Kaisuki's house!"_

Itachi looked at Izumi just in time to see her eyes switch to pink. Her chakra drove the temperature up much farther than Madara's had, but her chakra was also wilder and angrier and there was a clear lack of control over it. However, there was no denying one fact, out of any others:

Saeka and Madara's chakra were identical. The only difference was the amount of control they were exhibiting over it. Itachi's eyes were wide. How did that make any sense at all? Saeka had only been dead for two years when Kaisuki was born, so she'd only been a spirit for a grand total of twenty years. Madara had been dead for closer to a hundred and thirty at that point. It just wasn't plausible for Saeka to have chakra with such similarities.

The undead Uchiha was staring at Saeka with equal surprise, as though he hadn't been expecting it either. "Gotta admit," he stated disbelievingly, "I'm a little surprised. I mean... it's not every day you find out that you have a bio-engineered daughter. Pretty cool though."

Saeka had Kaisuki's face flushed bright red and she lowered her gaze to the ground. Itachi, on the other hand, was reeling in shock. He'd missed way too much. _Way_ too much. Saeka was Madara's "bio-engineered daughter"? Wasn't she one of Orochimaru's experiments? How had he gotten his hands on Uchiha Madara's remains? That was the only way he could've made a child who matched Madara's DNA and _chakra_ as Saeka evidently did. He didn't even understand why or _how_ she had his _exact_ chakra - there were cases of identical twins having identical chakra, but Saeka and Madara were obviously not identical twins.

A moment later, the feeling of their hot chakra mixing in the air dissipated into nothing. Tiger was looking back and forth between Madara and Saeka for a moment longer before he looked to Tsunade-sama.

"There is no denying it; their chakra is completely identical," he stated. "I don't know how such a thing is possible, but it's clearly none of my business. Is this all you needed from me, Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage was staring at Madara with a strange glint in her eyes. After a brief pause, though, she returned Tiger's gaze. "Yes, thank you. You are dismissed."

The hulking man nodded, bowing courteously before he turned around and walked out of the room. Itachi looked at Madara but the undead Uchiha didn't make eye contact. He was so anxious he wanted to throw up; if there was ever a time for Madara to be annoying in his own stupid, comforting way, it was right then.

Naturally, Madara wasn't paying any attention to him at all.

Saeka's pink eyes switched out for Kaisuki's familiar red. She glanced his way very briefly before she looked back to Tsunade-sama. "So?" She prompted in a tone somewhere between dry and uncertain.

Tsunade-sama chewed her tongue. She seemed to be in very deep thought. "Give me one reason to trust that you're not going to turn out to be the terrorist you were before, Madara."

Madara stared at her, looking rather offended. "Itachi spent eight months with _him,_ " he brandished a finger at Wolf, "to keep that secret from you, to keep Sasuke safe, and to protect Konohagakure. He only gave it up to keep his brother alive, and Wolf has literally been nothing short of a giant piece of shit to him since you let him out of prison. You really think he'd just throw all of that away?” He ranted. "Do you really think that Itachi would be _this_ kind of mess right now if I was a threat? Do you _actually_ think he'd risk losing what he's got, after all the _shit_ he's been getting while trying to keep it?"

Tsunade-sama huffed angrily and glared heatedly at him for a moment, but she nodded nonetheless before she turned to Sasuke and Kaisuki. "And your thoughts?"

Kaisuki blinked, looking surprised for a moment before she exchanged a look with Sasuke. "I mean, we've established that he is who he is and I trust Itachi's judgment and his ability to read others' character. If Madara was a threat, he wouldn't be here right now."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. Itachi hadn't seen him look so mature in _months_. "Separating them would probably be bad for both of them, Tsunade-sama," he told the Hokage, frowning. "Itachi's already proven to me that he's impossible when he's depressed and I'm sure that keeping him and Madara separated would only make it worse." Sasuke looked over at his distraught older brother. Itachi couldn't get a read on his expression but at that moment he couldn't get a read on anyone's expression. "He hasn't left the house in months. I'm surprised he's not molding."

Tsunade-sama hummed in thought, staring at her desk. Finally, she looked over at Itachi. "Do you have anything to say for yourself yet? You haven't spoken a word in the past thirty minutes."

Itachi froze for a second at being addressed. He barely had the mental coherence to speak at that moment, but he managed to construct a reply anyway. "I only ask that... you don't kill him." His eyes were burning relentlessly all of a sudden but he held back the urge to cry. "I don't really have the right to ask for much more than that."

The Hokage stared at him, eyebrows knitted together. He swallowed hard and lowered his gaze to somewhere on the floor. There was a hush that fell over the room as Tsunade-sama likely pondered the matter. Itachi didn't know why she hadn't sent them home and put Madara back in prison yet. It made more sense for her to think on it overnight, yet it seemed like she wanted to make the decision right then.

"I have two conditions," Tsunade-sama stated. Itachi looked up, eyes widening hugely. It didn't escape his attention the way Wolf shifted, his body language affronted and furious. He apparently disagreed with the decision the Hokage was coming to. "Firstly, Madara, you are not allowed outside the village. I won't give you chakra-locking bracelets _for now_ but if you give me a reason to change that, don't think for a _second_ that I won't.

"Secondly, you are not allowed to use your Sharingan. At all," she continued darkly. Madara didn't look phased at all. "If you want no one to find out that you're here, you need to not be an Uchiha at all.

"I'm going to stupidly let you stay with Itachi and Sasuke, as it's become evident to the irou-nin in me that separating the two of you will make that one," she cocked her head towards Itachi, "lose his little mind. You'll need another bedroom, so-..."

"Nah," Madara waved a hand at her, shaking his head. "I'll just sleep with Itachi. I'm not sure I could get comfortable without someone to lay all over."

Itachi looked over at him and that time the Uchiha was looking right at him, a smile on his face. His heart sank and he wasn't sure why but at the moment he didn't care. He wanted to get up and throw himself at Madara but he knew he couldn't do that right then. He'd have to wait at least until they got home.

Tsunade-sama huffed agitatedly. "Fine. Then I have nothing further to say to any of you. You're all free to go."

Itachi shakily stood up, finding that his legs felt like soggy noodles again. He looked over at Madara again, watching him stare at Tsunade-sama for a long moment before he turned to Itachi and grinned. The four of them headed for the door together, Madara gravitating towards him right away.

Shortly before they stepped outside, Itachi felt Sasuke cast a genjutsu over them to hide the fact that Madara was, in fact, still wearing prison garb. Itachi slowed to a stop, the strongest feeling of disbelief hitting him like a ton of bricks. He watched the other three stop, Madara only a step ahead of him, turning back to look his way.

"This..." he started and stopped, his throat momentarily closing. He swallowed and tried again. "This is real... right?"

He looked directly at Madara when he asked. Nothing ever went _this_ well in his life, so he couldn't imagine that the situation that had arisen from Madara's resurrection would be any different.

"I'll explain when we get to your apartment, Itachi," Kaisuki spoke up in response to his question, a sad smile on her face when he looked over at her. "In the meantime... yea, this is definitely real."

His heart swelled and his eyes began to burn as Madara walked over to him and hugged him, burying his face in the crook of Itachi's neck. The undead Uchiha's body was still quite cold - possibly hypothermic for a living person. But, to Itachi, it was a wonderful familiarity. He'd always been able to touch Madara and vice versa, but there had been a feeling like static that separated that touch - like an invisible wall between Itachi's mortality and Madara's incorporeality.

In that moment, however, there wasn't a wall. At least, not like that. It felt like he was closer and farther away from Madara at the same time, but it was a welcome feeling compared to being completely separated for indeterminate lengths of time.

 


	23. individual inconsistencies are worrying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late!

Within half an hour of returning, the four of them were situated in the living room. Kaisuki was sitting in the armchair while Sasuke had taken up residence at the corner of the sectional couch. Madara and Itachi were cuddling in the middle of the couch. All of them were sipping tea that Izumi had prepared to calm their nerves.

It had been quiet for a long while. No one seemed to want to break the silence with a question or statement. Itachi had calmed down from his perpetual state of panic and he was completely wiped out. Madara appeared to just be enjoying being close to Itachi and was twirling Sasuke's older brother's hair around his finger. He was gazing down at Itachi with nothing but adoration and Sasuke was stunned by the sight.

Everyone in their life had always held Itachi at arm’s length while simultaneously showering Sasuke in all the affection they could muster for a single child. He'd never seen _anyone_ look at Itachi with so much warmth and affection in their eyes. He didn't think even _he'd_ looked at Itachi like that.

 _"N-n-no, I c-... I can't, I_ _**can't** _ _, Sasuke, y-you don't ... you're not li-listening, I can't_ _**live** _ _without him, I can't, I c-can't..."_

He could never have imagined a person who could be that close to Itachi - who could hold him and cuddle with him and shower him in attention like Madara was in that moment. He could never have pictured what kind of person would get that sort of privilege. Itachi didn't even treat Sasuke like that. Not even when they'd been kids. Itachi had adored him, yes, but Itachi was his older brother and Sasuke had been the center of his universe since birth.

_"I need him like I need air, Sasuke, I... I don't know w-what I'm going to do i-if they..."_

Or at least, he thought he'd been the center of Itachi's universe. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Or perhaps he was sharing the space. Or perhaps Madara was the center of a different part of Itachi's universe.

Madara blew out a sigh, curling his arm tighter around Itachi's shoulders and drawing him in closer. Itachi hummed quietly and shifted somewhat to get more comfortable before he stilled again, his tea forgotten on the table at that point. It seemed that Itachi was completely fine with passing out on the couch, wrapped up in Madara.

_You must really love him, huh?_

Sasuke felt the corner of his mouth twitch towards a smile at the same time his eyes started to burn. His throat felt tight all of a sudden and he swallowed compulsively and lowered his head, staring down at his lap. His eyes were nearly watering and it felt like there was suddenly a hole in his chest. He wanted to cry and it seemed completely random.

 _"Itachi_ _**abandoned** _ _you."_

His stomach twisted and he was immediately slammed with nausea. He swallowed several more times. He felt like he was going to be sick. He could feel his heart rate slowly rising until it was thundering in his chest and his shoulders were beginning to shake; both a clear-cut sign that he was having another anxiety attack.

The ugliest part of it was that he knew where it was coming from right away.

 _Don't leave me. Don't replace me with him._ _**Please** _ _don't replace me._

He told himself to shut up several times but the stream of thoughts wouldn't go away. Among the many things Teara had told him – had _drilled_ into him – was that none of the people he'd ever cared about would continue to care about him. Itachi had abandoned him. Kaisuki had abandoned him. At the time, he'd thought that Team 7 had abandoned him. He'd thought that everyone had literally just sighed in relief the moment he was out of the village and gone with the wind. Even though it wasn't a realistic belief, he'd believed it because Teara had imprisoned him for three years and he'd never seen any sign that anyone was even looking for him. He'd thought that, if someone were, Teara and he would've run into them eventually. Even if the only people looking were Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi, he would've been able to hang on to hope.

“ _You're_ _ **never**_ _going home.”_

_Don't replace me. Don't abandon me. I don't have anywhere else to go._

The number of people he felt he could truly turn to was exactly two: Kaisuki and Itachi.

Kaisuki had Kisame and Itachi had Madara and the four of them would eventually have each other. They didn't need an annoying, damaged, emotionally unstable Sasuke. No one needed that. No one needed _him._ If he died, they would all have someone else to go to. If Itachi and Kaisuki died, Sasuke didn't have anywhere else he could go or anyone else he could turn to. He didn't really know Kisame and he definitely didn't know Madara at all.

 _Please don't leave me. He'll find me and make me go back. I_ _**know** _ _he will._

“ _Where are you going to go next, hm? Who's life are you going to take responsibility for?”_

 _I'm so_ _**selfish** _ _._

“Sasuke?”

He slowly lifted his head. Kaisuki's eyes had turned green again and she was watching him with a somewhat concerned looking on her face. Itachi's eyes had opened and he, along with Madara, was scrutinizing the youngest Uchiha in the room. He didn't look at them for more than a few seconds before his gaze dropped to the floor.

“ _You're annoying.”_

“What?” He mumbled quietly, immediately uncertain as to whether anyone was actually going to hear him. He heard someone shifting in their seat but he didn't look up.

“You're looking a little pale, sweetie,” Izumi answered him gently. “Are you okay?”

He was sure the tremors that were wracking his body were as visible as the pallor of his face, but he was glad that Izumi didn't mention that. He knew they could all tell. It wasn't like he was good at hiding those sorts of things anymore.

“I'm fine,” he replied automatically.

There was a pause and he could imagine the other inhabitants of the room exchanging a series of looks with one another, though he didn't have a clue what their expression may have been silently saying.

Then, he heard a soft sigh. “Alright, then,” Izumi replied. She sounded only slightly dejected.

The silence that ensued that time only lasted a few seconds before Kaisuki's familiar vocal tone spoke up, “Madara,” she addressed in a somewhat uncertain voice. He wondered if she was still wrapping her head around Itachi and Madara being long-time friends.

“Yes, child?” Madara replied with a smile that Sasuke could hear. Kaisuki chuckled somewhat awkwardly.

“I don't really expect you to have much in the way of answers,” she began, “but do you know anything about why you were revived? Or who did it? Or anything at all?”

Sasuke lifted his head just a little, just enough so that he could see through a curtain of his black hair. Madara was frowning somewhat and Kaisuki was watching him intently.

“I mean,” he said, “I don't have a clue about any of this nonsense. All I know is that Akatsuki's remaining members were there and when I woke up they seemed really tense. It was kind of weird.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “They didn't seem like they wanted to come within ten feet of me even though they were trying to be threatening, ha.”

“What all happened?” Kaisuki pressed, intrigued.

The oldest Uchiha drew Itachi a little closer. Sasuke's brother didn't stir at all. “Uh, well, I don't really remember, honestly. I remember that at one point I told them I needed to get back to Itachi and someone told me that I wasn't allowed to leave so I killed all of them and made a successful run for freedom.”

Kaisuki looked moderately perturbed by that. “Teara wasn't there? You know him, right?”

“Yea, I know him. Kind of. He wasn't there,” Madara answered. “Or at least, I didn't see him. I feel like he would've had things to say to me if he'd been there.”

Sasuke blinked, immediately alarmed and confused. “What?” He deadpanned in shocked bewilderment. Madara and Kaisuki both looked over at him, looking surprised by his sudden interjection. Sasuke was still reeling with enough shock that he hadn't yet thought to be embarrassed.

They didn't get it though. Teara was _obsessed_ with reviving Madara, with getting Itachi, with that whole set of missions and tasks that he'd been given by whoever. Teara had spent countless, sleepless weeks arduously training Sasuke so he could capture Itachi alive. He had spent further weeks drilling pain into Sasuke's bones when the Uchiha had failed him. He'd jumped through a dozen or more hoops in his efforts to get his hands on Madara.

Sasuke had watched him kill countless demons for failing him – including Eirun and likely Myrne. He had spent days on end standing in the dark corners of libraries and studies with Teara, watching him pour over books filled with passages on spells and rituals and altars and circles. If Sasuke hadn't known any better, he'd imagine that Teara's very life depended on him capturing Madara. He'd never seen Teara collapse, but he could tell how far past his limit the white-haired man was constantly operating on.

_Why do I know all of this?_

He gave pause, staring at the wall between Madara and Kaisuki. Why _did_ he know all of that? He didn't really remember seeing a side to Teara like _that_ did he?

 _Sasuke stood silently in a dark corner of one of Teara's studies, his throat frozen in anxiety and his heart sinking in dismay. He didn't know why he felt so guilty. He didn't know why he felt so uneasy. Something wasn't right with his captor but he didn't understand why he cared; he_ _**hated** _ _that man._

_Teara was sitting at a table, his elbows on the surface and his face buried in his hands. He was being very still. He looked extremely upset and for some reason Sasuke wanted to ask if he was alright. He wanted to take a few steps forward, out of the darkness, and see if there was anything he could do to help. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about it all of a sudden but-..._

_There was a creaking sound – the door opening – and Teara visibly jumped... stood up and... … …_ _**vivid** _ _purple eyes... … walked up to him and spoke … accent he almost recognized..._

… “ _How have things been going?” …_

_Teara was rigid with tension. “I'm... … … …”_

_Violet eyes skirted to the corner Sasuke was occupying and he froze but she didn't look at him for more than a split second._

“ _You're... … late, you know...”_

_The white-haired man's shoulders sagged somewhat. “I apologize.”_

_The next part of the memory was important. Sasuke didn't know how he knew, but he felt suddenly like he ought to be paying very close attention to what his mind was telling him. He felt sick with anxiety and his heart was hammering away in his chest. She was lifting a thin hand up, reaching slowly towards Teara's face, and Sasuke saw the man stiffen in a very visible display of fear._

_**Ah** _ _, he recalled to himself._ _**This was the part when** _ _..._

“Sasuke? Sasuke, can you hear me?”

He blinked rapidly, his vision taking a moment to focus on Izumi's green eyes. He let out a long breath, feeling extremely hot for some reason.

_This was the part when..._

The train of thought was gone. He felt sickened by what was left of the emotions that had gone along with what little he _had_ remembered, though. He swallowed hard several times in an effort to quell the nausea that had come up his throat. Why was he remembering something like _that_?

“Sasuke?” Izumi called to him again and he refocused his attention on her. It was difficult to maintain. He felt like he'd been bludgeoned with emotion.

“I'm fine,” he reassured in a very quiet voice. She didn't look like she believed him at all. “Really.” He insisted.

“Sasuke, you weren't breathing for a moment there,” the irou-nin replied. That was when he noticed the whiteness of her face and the wideness of her eyes. “Can you tell me what happened just now?”

He took in several shaky breaths, pressing his palm into his gut as his stomach did several back flips. He remembered what he'd recalled just then, but he couldn't remember the rest of the memory. He couldn't remember that last part that was important. It was a bit frustrating.

“I just...” he started and stopped, swallowing hard. “I just... had another flashback.” He concluded in a whisper. Izumi's eyebrows knit together.

“Do you usually stop breathing when you have them?” She asked.

He shook his head and then shrugged. “I don't know... I don't think so.”

There was a brief pause. Izumi was scrutinizing him very carefully. “What did you remember?”

He opened his mouth to answer her and then closed it again, looking down towards his lap. He wasn't even sure how to explain what he'd remembered. Most of it had just been a variety of strange emotions. He couldn't remember what that woman had asked Teara. He didn't even know her name. She looked only vaguely familiar, which suggested to him that he may have seen her at least a couple of times.

“Sasuke,” Izumi called once more, “you're spacing out again.”

He nodded jerkily, only mostly registering what she'd said.

_This was the part when..._

He couldn't remember the rest of it.

“Sasuke,” that time, it wasn't Izumi who spoke – it was Itachi. Sasuke hadn't even realized he was still awake. “What did you remember? You seemed confused about something a minute ago.”

Izumi had looked over her shoulder at Itachi when he started speaking and she nodded in agreement with his question. Sasuke could see around her that he had sat up from where he'd been leaning against Madara and was watching Izumi and her patient intently.

“Yes, excellent question,” Izumi approved. “What were you wondering about, Sasuke?”

“I-...” He opened and closed his mouth again and swallowed before trying again. “You're...” he directed at Madara, “you're _really_ sure Teara wasn't there?”

The Uchiha blinked, looking surprised by the question. “Yea, he definitely wasn't or I'd have killed him, too. Why?”

“It's _weird_!” He blurted out, feeling very much like he was losing his mind. Izumi, Itachi, and Madara were all watching him, and the looks on their faces suggested that they did not at all understand where he was coming from. “Teara is a _lot_ of things, but irresponsible is not one of them,” he explained with unnecessary haste. “He is _obsessed_ with getting his hands on Madara. He told me once that he's been at it since he was fifteen and I'm pretty sure he's almost thirty now. I don't understand why he wouldn't have been there to make sure nothing went wrong. The way he acts, you'd think his life was depending on him capturing Madara. I don't...”

“ _Is there anything I can do to help?”_

“ _ **What**_ _? No, you... What is wrong with you? Just, go back to your corner and stop fucking bothering me.”_

“I don't know Teara all that well, obviously,” Sasuke continued, his voice quietening. He didn't understand why Teara suddenly mattered to him so much. He didn't know why he felt like he ought to be fretting or something. “What I know about him is... is just observation. I... ran away at least once a week for the first couple of months I spent in Otogakure,” he explained, his voice losing a lot more volume. All of a sudden, it seemed like the other inhabitants of the room were watching him and paying even more intent attention than before. He felt uneasy.

“After a while, he stopped leaving me by myself... I had to... I had to follow him everywhere,” he continued. He was pointedly not making eye contact with any of them and that was probably the only reason he was still talking. “There was this place we'd go pretty often, where... where the.. um... demons had a... a humanoid form, I guess. He told me once that it's the only level mortals can descend to.”

“So, he took you to... the Underworld? Or a part of it, at least?” Itachi interjected to clarify. Sasuke looked up at him, meeting his gaze for only a second before he nodded slowly.

“He would go to the libraries there, and I would stand in a corner and... be inconspicuous,” Sasuke continued his monologue. His heart was racing for some reason and he felt somewhat sick still. “There was only one person who ever came by when he was in the library, but I don't... I don't remember anything about her, except that he's afraid of her. I think she's his superior or... maybe more like his handler.”

There was a long, long silence. He wondered if Madara and Itachi and Izumi were pondering why and how he'd come by such completely useless information. Why had he even bothered telling them all of that? It wasn't like worrying about Teara's wellbeing would help them with preventing him from kidnapping one or two of them.

“ _Stupid_ _ **bitch**_ _.”_

Besides, Teara wasn't a friend. He was an enemy. He had tried to kill almost all of them at least once and he had held Sasuke hostage for three years.

So why did it matter?

His head was beginning to ache and he felt discombobulated. His body felt like it was full of hot air and his stomach was rolling. He knew he was forgetting about something extremely important but he couldn't think of what it was and it was starting to really bother him.

He stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over Kaisuki (who had just taken back her body). His legs felt like jelly. “I'm... I need to lay down,” he mumbled, pressing his fingers against his eyelids.

“Are you okay?” Kaisuki asked, sounding concerned. He felt her hand touch his shoulder and he jerked away before he could stop himself.

“I'm fine,” he replied hastily. He really didn't feel right. He wanted to lay down. He felt like he wanted to pass out even though his vision wasn't going dark or anything. “I'm just tired.” He practically wanted to run from the room. He just wanted to sleep. He needed to sleep. Maybe he'd remember that important something. Even if he didn't, he just wanted to _sleep_.

The walk from the hallway to the bedroom he shared with his brother seemed a lot longer than usual. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion at the speed of light. He almost couldn't wrap his head around where he was going.

He finally stepped into Itachi's dimly lit room and wasted no time dropping himself onto his futon, curling up tightly and grabbing his blanket to throw over himself. His mind was racing through thoughts before he could make sense of them and it felt like he was losing it. He covered his ears and forced his eyes to close and tried very hard to block out the frantic beating of his heart, which was beginning to feel like a curse.

_His head was pounding. Terror of the pain he knew would be coming in waves was etched into his mind and he couldn't stop his imagination from thinking of what interesting things might be done to him, but at the same time he felt empty. Hollow. As though someone had put their hand in his chest and taken out something important. As though he'd lost something again._

**Wait...**

_It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time. He didn't miss it._

“ _Do I need to come back to the Mortal Plain and take care of this myself? Do you need more guidance?”_ _ **She**_ _grabbed him by his throat and tilted his head back, forcing his eyes to meet hers. His heart was hammering away in his chest; he was_ _ **terrified**_ _. “What is it? What do I have to do to persuade you to get this done correctly, hm?”_

**What is...?**

_She reached for something out of his line of sight and he heard the distinct sound of metal scraping against metal. He knew he wasn't allowed to look away from her eyes, he knew he couldn't just break eye contact, so he waited. Eventually it would either come into his line of sight so he could identify what it was, or it would start burning or carving or drilling or whatever and he'd identify it by that feeling._

“ _You're walking on thin ice,_ _ **vossiem,**_ _” she spat venomously. He felt something cold lay across his knuckles and recognized it as a knife right away. His mouth went dry but he didn't break eye contact. “I said you could keep that child so long as you could control him and you went and_ _ **lost**_ _him._ _ **Gods only know**_ _how much he'll remember, you_ _ **idiot**_ _.” The blade turned so that the sharp edge was pressing against the spot where his little finger met his hand._

_He clenched his jaw. He knew what she was doing._

**Oh no. Oh no, no, no, I don't want to see this.**

“ _This is your_ _ **final**_ _chance; if you can't make this up to me,” she continued, pressing the blade in just a little, “I'm going to paint these walls in your blood over and over, until I get tired of it. Then I'll leave you like that for a few weeks and come back when I remember you're here._ _ **Understand**_ _?”_

_Without any further warning, she dropped an immense amount of weight into the knife and cleanly sliced through his little finger, cutting it off completely. His eyes burned but they didn't water, his jaw clenched impossibly hard but he didn't scream._

“ _What?” She snapped after the briefest pause, sounding immediately furious. Her hand wrapped around a fistful of his hair and tilted his head further back. He stared at her with dull eyes. He could feel the blood oozing out of his hand. “Where's that voice I've been missing, hm? Do I need to cut off something else?”_

_He didn't answer her. She let go of his hair and grabbed his ring finger from the same hand, gripping it with cruel strength. “Really?” She snarled, “You're going to be a child today?”_

_He still didn't reply. “Fine,” she hissed. “We can be childish.”_

_She increased her grip until he felt his finger crack and then twisted in the same motion. With a terrible ripping sound that was coupled with pain that split up his arm and pulled a shriek from his throat, she..._

**No, no, no, I don't want to see, I don't want to know! Why are you telling me this? Why are you** _**showing** _ **me this!** _**?** _

_**I didn't... me in... nightmares, you stupid...** _

…

There was a resounding silence that followed the sound of one of the bedroom doors closing. It lasted for approximately thirty seconds before Madara spoke.

“Is he okay?” The older Uchiha pondered aloud. Kaisuki looked back over at the duo still sitting on the couch, looking fretful. Itachi found himself waiting for the Yurei to answer the question even though, out of everyone in the room, it was _him_ who ought to be responding. When he glanced to his peripheral, he saw that Madara wasn't even looking at either of them; he was still staring after Sasuke with an unreadable look on his face.

For some reason, Kaisuki responded anyway, “I... I don't know,” she quietly replied. “I don't even know what that was all about.”

Itachi directed his gaze to the coffee table. He felt a fair bit unwell. He wasn't sure what he thought about Sasuke's tirade about Teara. Some of what his little brother had said had raised red flags for one reason, while other things had brought forth questions for different reasons. Itachi didn't know what all Teara had been “teaching” his little brother for those three years but, _whatever_ that psychopath had taught him, it was clear that Sasuke had picked up more than just that.

He wondered – and was immediately made anxious by – what Teara would do if he knew just how much about him Sasuke had noticed. His little brother's attention to detail was just as precise as his older brother's, even untrained. There was no way he could've gone three years without learning every tick and trick about Teara there was to know. He had probably done it out of self-preservation, but the results were both astounding and terrifying.

How much more knowledge did Sasuke actually have stored and locked up in his wrecked memory? And out of that arsenal of information, how much of it did Teara know Sasuke was aware of? If the man found out somehow that Sasuke knew a lot more than he ought to, would he come after the younger Uchiha? It was hard to say and he didn't want to bring it up to his brother, lest he give him a panic attack to end all panic attacks.

“All I really saw was from the medical point of view,” Kaisuki continued after an excessively long break in the conversation. For a moment, Itachi wasn't sure what she was talking about. “I was talking to Izumi about it. His pupils didn't dilate for a solid five minutes and I swear he wasn't breathing for that entire time. I was more worried about getting oxygen to his brain than anything else.”

Madara nodded beside him and he felt the man's arm snake around his lower back, hand coming to rest on Itachi's hip. “He spaced out for a while,” he commented, his tone unreadable and his statement lacking in personality. Itachi noticed the oddity right away. “Did he say that Teara was _obsessed_ with finding me? He said that, right?”

Itachi swallowed hard. “He did say that,” he confirmed quietly. Madara squeezed his hip a little too hard before moving his hand to Itachi's shoulder and pulling him close. The act felt slightly possessive but he wasn't sure if he was just imagining it or not. “He also said that it looks to him like Teara's life might depend on him capturing you.”

He felt Madara look at him but he didn't meet the man's gaze. He wouldn't deny that he was worried that Sasuke was empathizing with someone as dangerous and horrible as Teara, but he also knew his brother was no idiot. He wouldn't see something like _that_ if it wasn't there. At that stage of the game, after Sasuke would have believed himself to have lost Itachi and Kaisuki _and_ Team 7, he couldn't imagine his little brother having the hope left to delude himself into thinking maybe Teara wasn't so bad.

Sasuke would be much more likely to attempt to kill himself, if his history was any indication. If there had truly been nothing for him to hang on to, he wouldn't have bothered trying to invent something to hang on to. Sasuke just wasn't that type of person.

He wondered what side of Teara Sasuke must have seen for him to be able to see someone suffering underneath the psychopathy.

“I'm going to go check on him,” Itachi suddenly decided, standing up. Madara made to rise with him but Itachi planted a hand on his shoulder. “I'll only be a moment if nothing's wrong, Madara, and if something _is_ wrong, you'll be among the first to know.”

He had hoped that his minute little quip would put a smile on Madara's face – usually he picked up on those things right away – but the man only looked at him like what he was asking was far too great a burden. “You'll be fine?” The older Uchiha asked.

“Madara-kun,” Izumi's familiar voice spoke up at that moment. “I certainly hope you aren't implying that Itachi isn't enough to handle his own little brother.”

Itachi glanced towards the irou-nin, who was watching them both with a raised eyebrow. Madara had looked towards her as well and he frowned, looking dejected. “Nah, I guess you're right.” The smile he put on at that moment was far too obviously forced. Why was his ghost still acting so strange? “You can be loud when you want to be.”

Itachi faked a smile that felt and probably looked much more genuine than Madara's had. “Not as loud as you can.”

“Definitely not as loud as _I_ can,” Madara agreed. His smile then was more relaxed and a bit sincerer. “But okay, yea, get a move on.”

He nodded and headed out of the living room, directing a brief, weary glance at Kaisuki. The glint that appeared in her red eyes at that moment was mostly unreadable – she looked somewhat concerned for sure, perhaps a little wary (likely of Madara). He wondered if she could tell that there was something off about the ghost based on the way Itachi was acting.

He walked to the end of the hall and silently opened the door to his bedroom, peering in. Sasuke was laying on his side, facing away from the door, partially curled up. He wasn't tossing and turning or mumbling and whimpering in his sleep, so he clearly wasn't having a nightmare (yet).

Itachi let out a soft sigh. Hopefully his little brother would be able to get the rest he needed.

He closed the door again and went back the way he'd come. Kaisuki was setting down her mug of likely lukewarm tea. Madara looked like he'd been waiting with his eyes on the door the whole time when Itachi reentered the living room. He smiled weakly at his once-ghostly companion.

“He's fine at the moment,” he reported to the room. Kaisuki looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes flashing green for just an instant. Was Izumi scrutinizing him? Did he look stressed or unwell or something? Probably. He pretty much always looked stressed and unwell and, after the events of the past couple of days, he was sure he was looking a bit sickly.

Itachi walked across the room and sat down on the couch beside Madara, making himself comfortable against him. Predictably, the man wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer but, for some reason, Itachi once again felt like the action was much more possessive than usual. Madara was always a certain amount of protective of him; but not _possessive_.

Itachi's heart jumped into his throat, which constricted in response. The last time he'd seen Madara, before he'd disappeared, the ghost had slammed his head into a wall and knocked him unconscious for about five minutes. Was that something he still needed to deal with and fret over? Or was it resolved? He didn't have a clear understanding of everything that was going on and no one amongst their circle of friends knew enough to explain it all, but he couldn't imagine how something like that could've just magically fixed itself. Was it some kind of spiritual problem or a psychological one?

What could he do?

Madara was stronger than him, faster than him, and definitely more experienced in battle than him. The man was _the_ most renowned Uchiha in history. Itachi didn't actually stand a chance against him and he _knew_ that. If Madara _was_ unstable; if he _was_ dangerous and he suddenly snapped and tried to kill Kisame or Kaisuki or _Sasuke_ , Itachi wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Unless Madara was in a good enough state of mind to recognize that he didn't want to hurt or kill his companion, there was _nothing_ Itachi could do.

He swallowed hard. Bile was trying to rise up his throat and his stomach was in knots. He would have to pay very close attention to the once-ghost's behavior. He needed to confirm whether or not the man's instability and mood swings were still a problem. He needed to make sure Madara wouldn't be a threat to Sasuke.

“ _Do you really think that Itachi would be this kind of mess right now if I was a threat?”_

_Oh, the irony._

“Hey,” Madara's lowered voice startled him out of his reverie. “You okay?”

Itachi cleared his throat. “I'm fine,” he responded levelly. “I'm just tired.”

“Your heart is beating really fast,” the older man muttered to him, squeezing his shoulder. Itachi sighed softly, pushing down his feeling of extreme discomfort.

“I'm just thinking, it's nothing,” he softly stated in response. He needed to divert the man's attention into a different direction. What could he talk about? Was there something he wanted to ask? “Kaisuki,” he addressed after pondering the matter for a few seconds. The Yurei looked up at him from the spot on her lap she'd been scowling at.

“What can I do you for?” She replied with a weary smile.

“Did you... send us any letters over the past few weeks?” He did want to know why he hadn't heard from her in weeks. He was nearly positive that Sasuke had been hiding those letters, but he couldn't be sure until he knew if she'd tried to contact them.

“Yea,” Kaisuki told him. “I've been wondering why I hadn't heard from you, actually. Was Sasuke hiding my letters while he was...?”

Itachi nodded slowly, frowning. His heart was still racing and he knew Madara was staring at him. He didn't like the feeling of the man's eyes on him at that moment, for some reason. “I think so,” he replied to Kaisuki, trying to distract himself from Madara's odd behavior. “A lot's happened. I wanted to tell you about it.”

That time, it was Kaisuki's turn to frown. He saw her red eyes dart up to scrutinize Madara's face for a split second before she looked back at Itachi. “Well, okay, I'm here now. What all happened? You didn't realize Sasuke was possessed? I was eavesdropping on you and Tsunade earlier”

Itachi pursed his lips. “Madara went missing and I... went to pieces.” He quietly stated. Kaisuki's red eyes switched to green and she stared at him closely for a moment before they switched back.

Madara rubbed his arm briefly before he pulled him closer, practically crushing Itachi against him. He shifted slightly so his bad shoulder wasn't digging into Madara's ribs and sighed softly. The once-ghost started petting and finger-combing his hair right away.

“Yea, I had noticed that you were falling apart,” Kaisuki said, looking uneasy. “You're feeling better now, clearly, but... I think I'd like to point out that it's super unhealthy to be _that_ dependent on someone.”

Madara chuckled, and then laughed outright. It didn't sound genuine. “Yea,” he agreed. Kaisuki scowled at him. “It's a bit late to correct it, though.”

Kaisuki rolled her eyes in response to that. “For fuck's sake,” she grunted in annoyance. “Anyway, tell me stories, Itachi. I want to know everything that happened.”

Itachi wasn't sure he wanted to tell her about Madara bashing his head into the wall and knocking him unconscious, so he decided to purposely omit that part as soon as she asked him to summarize what had happened. Perhaps he could talk to her at a later time about his concerns, just so he could get her input. He didn't think it would be necessary to kill Madara after all, but if he was unstable there might be something Izumi or Khrai could do.

He just didn't know if he'd get the opportunity. He and Madara were normally never apart.

He cleared his throat. “Madara disappeared some weeks ago,” he began. “We'd been... arguing. He walked out the door and didn't come back for so long, I thought he wasn't going to come back at all.” His voice quietened. Madara rubbed his shoulder again in a rough gesture of comfort. “I couldn't... deal with it. Sasuke had an away mission a couple of days after and I'm pretty sure he was possessed while he was out of town.”

Kaisuki nodded slowly. “That makes sense. Was it a better actor? Why didn't you notice?”

“I...” he began. His chest felt tight. “I did notice,” he quietly said. “Sasuke... gave me a concussion and a black eye on two separate occasions while he was possessed.” He chanced a glance at Kaisuki. She was staring at him with horror in her bright red eyes. He diverted his gaze elsewhere right away. “I didn't say anything because I didn't want to leave the house to find someone to tell and I didn't really think anyone would believe my story anyway.”

He let out a breath of bitter laughter, reaching up with one hand and pressing it over his eyes. It felt like his spine was in a vice grip and his lungs were being squeezed. He could feel two sets of eyes on him but he didn't move his hand. His eyes were beginning to burn.

“I used to really love this village,” he dully muttered, biting down on his tongue momentarily to distract himself from his strong urge to cry. “I wish I'd just kept that mission to myself and died in prison.”

He felt Madara stiffen beside him, the man's nails subtly digging into his arm _hard_. He clenched his jaw. It hurt quite a lot but he didn't say anything. He just cleared his throat again and Madara's grip relinquished somewhat. His anxiety levels were through the roof. Something _was_ wrong.

The room had fallen silent. He didn't want to tell Kaisuki that something was wrong with Madara in front of the undead man himself. He didn't want to tell her at all, actually. He'd just spent almost a week convincing everyone around him that Madara wasn't a threat. He couldn't just turn around this late in the game and tell them that, actually, Madara _might_ be a threat but Itachi wasn't quite positive yet. _Definitely_ not an option.

So what was he supposed to do, then? How much worse would it get? Would it get any worse at all? Would he actually have to protect Sasuke from Madara? Or would the once-ghost's hostility and violence be solely directed towards Itachi? If he was the only person who had to actively fight with Madara, he didn't care. They'd been fighting since the day they'd met. It'd only started getting _excessively_ violent within the past year or so, sure, but Itachi could get used to a lot of things very quickly.

His capacity for adaptation was nearly unmatched. He had survived in conditions much worse than what Konohagakure had thrown at him during the time he had spent in their prison. Dealing with Madara was genuinely not that bad. The man would beat the hell out of him, yes, but he was predictable. He only became violent when he was angry and there was a visible shift in his gaze that happened a split second before he swung. Itachi always saw it coming, even though he was never fast enough to dodge.

Point being, so long as Madara didn't turn his violent side towards Sasuke or Kaisuki or Kisame, Itachi didn't care what he did. The issue was that there wasn't anything he could do if Madara _did_ turn violent towards his friends, other than hope Khrai or Saeka were strong and fast enough to take the man down.

“I'm sorry,” Kaisuki softly said, her voice sounding very sad. Itachi dropped his hand from his face and looked at her. “I wish I could just take you with me. If you want me to, I will, but I can't if you won't cooperate.”

Itachi shook his head slowly, staring dully at the ground. “It's fine,” he lied. He wanted very badly to run away from home again. “Believe it or not, I've actually been through significantly worse.”

That didn't appear to make Kaisuki feel even remotely better about the situation. She sighed, shaking her head. “Just because you can get used to something, doesn't mean you should.”

He shrugged and didn't reply. Madara was being uncharacteristically quiet and it was worsening his anxiety by one point per minute of silence from the man. He really, really, _really_ hoped that this weren't going to go in the direction he was expecting it to. He didn't want to be put in a position where he had to choose one side or the other amongst his closest friends and only remaining family.

He'd already been asked to choose between his village and his family. He didn't _ever_ want to be in a position even remotely similar to that again.

 


	24. black eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a few days late. I've been battling depression. :/

So far, Madara hadn't reacted to anything with rage or extreme violence. Itachi's hopes were getting dangerously high.

Perhaps everything was fine and he was just being a normal amount of possessive. Perhaps Itachi just wasn't used to the behavior because the ghost had been gone for so long. Who could say for sure, right? Perhaps there wasn't anything to worry about at all. There hadn't been any incidents, there hadn't been any more arguing than would be normal between him and Madara. None of Madara's often-problematic pathological behaviors were causing any strife of any kind. Everything seemed to be fine.

At the same time, though, he was just _waiting_ for something to set the man off. It had only been a week. Madara could swing back into his old habits easily. Perhaps he hadn't yet because he was still trying to earn everyone's trust. Perhaps he knew he was walking on thin ice so he was making a point to behave himself.

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before he started swinging at Itachi again.

Itachi sighed to himself as he placed a plate on the dish rack to dry, then picked up the next in line and starting scrubbing. Kaisuki had left to go and investigate the matter of Madara's revival. She'd left the day after the oldest Uchiha had been released, looking both fretful and distracted as she'd walked out their door. Itachi had a feeling she had noticed something was wrong. Or maybe she was just apprehensive of what she was going to find when she started digging up their latest mystery.

Madara and Sasuke had gone out to the store together. Sasuke hadn't wanted to go alone and Itachi hadn't wanted to leave the house any more than he usually did. Madara had volunteered as a result and, while Sasuke had seemed somewhat reluctant to have such company, the oldest of the three of them had been convincing enough to persuade both the brothers that it would be fine.

“ _You're both nervous about going out alone and I'm not. Makes perfect sense for me to accompany whoever goes to the store. I'm scary, after all.”_

Itachi couldn't help the corners of his mouth twitching towards a smile. Madara's mental state was concerning but the man had gone back to the quirky, amusing man he'd been before things had started going awry (well, more awry than usual) in Itachi's life. He had a knack for making Itachi feel better. He was still _Madara._ He was just... different, somehow.

Itachi wished he could've put the right words together to explain what he was seeing and not seeing, but he just couldn't. Madara was the same and different. His negative traits had been seemingly exacerbated for a while but at that point they seemed to be back to normal. _Everything_ seemed to be “back to normal”.

It was _weird_. And the weirdness of it was what was worrying him.

His nerves were still somewhat shot so when someone rapped sharply (and _loudly_ ) on the front door, his hand slipped on the plate he was holding. He managed to catch it (barely), even with his wet hands, and straightened up to set it down. His heart was hammering away in his throat and he let out a shaky breath. Probably Wolf. That knock was usually Wolf, if not someone else from ANBU. Nothing to worry about. It was nothing to worry about.

 _Well, to be honest,_ he thought, _Wolf_ _ **is**_ _something to worry about._

He answered the door not a minute later and, sure enough, it was Wolf. He pursed his lips and stepped to the side to allow the man to brush past him. Wolf was clearly still angry about Madara. The vibe he was giving off was nothing short of murderous intent. Itachi swallowed to wet his throat as Wolf started his round. The last time he'd seen the interrogator had been when Madara was being released. The time before that, Wolf had been seemingly trying to kill him on and off while “interrogating” him.

Wolf seemed completely sane right then. Nothing unusual - just his normal levels of suspiciousness and contempt. Itachi stood a few feet from the front door as Wolf was stalking through the apartment in a general fury, as he did when he was behaving like himself. The man walked into Sasuke's room and right away Itachi heard the sound of tatami mats being pulled from the floor. He scowled and started down the hall. He didn't _really_ want to know what Wolf was doing, but he didn't exactly like the idea of the man digging through Sasuke's room for no apparent reason.

He stopped in the doorway in time to see Wolf turning back towards the door. There was a stiff pause before the Black Ops interrogator approached him, stopping about a foot away. It was hard not to flinch back.

“Your idiot brother needs to move his weapons,” he ground out. “I informed him of that days ago. If he doesn't have it done by the end of today, I'll have you both arrested for blatantly ignoring your probation terms.”

Itachi clenched his jaw. Sasuke hadn't mentioned any conversations with Wolf. Why was he hiding things _now_? “I'll be sure to let him know,” he replied tersely.

The was a tense pause. Eventually, Wolf took another step forward and Itachi moved out of his way. The interrogator started back the way he'd come, heading for the door. Itachi sighed softly and followed after him. Wolf stopped a couple feet from the door.

“I don't know what you're planning,” Wolf began venomously, “but you're not going to get away with it. I'll have you behind bars soon enough and you will _never_ see the light of day again.”

“When are you going to accept the fact that I've done nothing wrong since being released and I haven't been planning to do anything wrong from the start?” Itachi replied dryly. “I have no intention of running away from home, even though being on the run again would be a huge improvement from staying _here_.”

Faster than was humanly possible, Wolf's closed fist was swinging at him. He didn't even have time to react and it was an immediately terrifying revelation. Wolf could _not_ move that fast. Itachi knew how fast Wolf could move. He knew very, _very_ well. Even with rigorous training, there wouldn't be _that_ much of an improvement in just a week.

The interrogator's fist hit it's mark, just a hair to the left of his left eye. The force of the blow was also significantly heavier than normal and he was sure he felt something crack in his cheek. His vision split as he felt himself hit the floor rather belatedly. His head was immediately thudding in his ears and his freshly injured eye socket was met with an abrupt, searing pain. He could feel something warm running down the side of his face and he wasn't sure what it was at first.

His hand went to touch his face as he opened his uninjured eye but Wolf's hand closed around his wrist with frightening strength and wrenched him upright, slamming him into the wall. His one hand remained wrapped around Itachi's wrist and the other curled around his throat and squeezed. It felt like the room was losing warmth _fast_ and Wolf's hand felt oddly cold through the material of his glove.

He started clawing at Wolf's arm with his free hand when the man's grip tightened enough to completely cut off his airways. At the same time, he was trying to pull his immobilized wrist free, to no avail. His head was pounding worse and worse with every passing second and, as his vision began to fog and darken, he wondered offhandedly if Wolf was actually going to kill him right then.

Wolf let go of him rather suddenly and his knees buckled as soon as he was made to stand on his own. He caught himself on the wall, wheezing and gasping, and a second later he heard the front door slam shut. Wolf's chakra signature had disappeared as soon as the door closed, leaving Itachi wondering why he'd left so abruptly.

Itachi leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, still struggling to catch his breath. He swallowed hard, ignoring the protests of his throat. He lifted his hand again and touched his face, feeling the swelling and bruising and blood that was still dripping down the side of his face. He gingerly ran his fingers further up and discovered a decent gash about an inch below his eye. He stared at the blood that stained the tips of his fingers. His head was throbbing. He felt numbed.

He had to tell Madara and Sasuke that... that...

_What was I going to tell them?_

The memory of... of whoever that was attacking him just then was fading from his memory _fast_.

The door opened again rather abruptly, startling the living daylights out of him. He sucked in a breath and everything he'd been thinking about was gone. He couldn't remember any of it. Why had he even been trying to remember? Why did his face hurt so much? Why was there blood on his fingers? Who had attacked him? Where did they go? Why was he sitting on the floor?

_What in the world just happened?_

He couldn't remember and it was beginning to make him feel panicked. He knew he had just forgotten something very important, something that had happened literally _seconds_ ago, something that he was supposed to share with someone but he couldn't remember, he couldn't remember anything why did he forget that fast how did he forget that fast what was going on _who attacked me who attacked me who attacked me I don't remember_ _ **I don't remember-**_ _..._

“Itachi! Oi, snap out of it!”

He flinched violently when he suddenly registered that someone was shaking his shoulders rather hard. Hard enough that his right shoulder was beginning to throb. Had he been spacing out? Why?

Itachi blinked rapidly, waiting for his one eye to focus before he slowly lifted his head to gaze upon the face of an extremely concerned Madara. Itachi stared at him for a long moment. He still had no clue why he was sitting on the floor. He had no idea why he appeared to have been punched in the face, either.

His head was still aching but the thudding seemed to have gentled a bit.

“Itachi?” Madara was saying, “hey, you in there?”

He couldn't find his voice. He was still reeling in horror at the fact that he'd forgotten... he didn't even know what he'd forgotten. He had no idea about anything that had happened over the past half hour or so. Everything was just _gone_.

“What... happened?” That was Sasuke. Itachi didn't have an answer for him.

After a good two minutes of silence in which he stared at them, stricken at the fact that he had no idea why he had a black eye, he finally managed to speak: “I... I don't... know,” he all but whispered.

There was a pause. Madara looking somewhere between wildly concerned and impossibly confused. “What do you mean, 'you don't know'?” He asked in bewilderment, lifting his hand to Itachi's face. Itachi flinched back before he could stop himself. He saw the look in the oldest Uchiha's eyes shift to one of disturbed shock before he pursed his lips and placed his hand where he'd been aiming – over the fresh injury. Immediately, Itachi could feel the warmth of irou-ninjutsu soaking into his skin, repairing the damage rapidly. “How do you not know how you got yourself a black eye _this_ bad? Who hit you?”

He felt like he was losing his mind all over again. “I don't know,” he mumbled, his heart racing and his stomach churning. He dropped his gaze to the floor. “I... I don't know what happened, I can't... remember.”

There was a long, long pause after that. “You can't... remember?” Sasuke finally spoke, his voice shaky and subdued. Itachi looked up at him for a split second, seeing naught but shocked horror in his little brother's dark eyes.

He shook his head

“How far back does this memory gap go?” Madara demanded to know.

Itachi clenched and unclenched his hands on his lap a few times. “I was... doing the dishes.”

“When?” The once-ghost pried.

“I don't know, maybe... a couple hours ago?” He said uncertainly. “What time is it?”

“Quarter to four.” Madara replied right away.

“Oh...” He mumbled quietly, beginning to feel extremely sick. “In that case... maybe half an hour.”

Madara clicked his tongue as he withdrew his hand from Itachi's face. He looked like he wanted to get up but wasn't sure if Itachi could handle travel. Itachi himself was fairly certain he couldn't. He watched Madara glance over his shoulder at Sasuke, and Itachi followed his gaze.

“What are you thinking, Sasuke?” Madara asked the youngest in the room after a brief pause in which Sasuke didn't make eye contact with either of them. His little brother looked extremely anxious.

“I...” Sasuke began slowly and with much hesitation. “The only... beings I know of that can selectively... wipe out memories like that are... um, demons and... and T-Teara.”

Itachi's heart dropped like a stone. Had Teara been over again? Why? And why had he felt it necessary to punch Itachi in the face? He didn't think he would've been giving Teara attitude. He wasn't an idiot. Even if he didn't remember what had happened, he knew himself well enough. If Teara hadn't had a reason to hit him, Itachi couldn't imagine why he would've. In that case, it probably wasn't Teara. Probably.

“No, that's not possible,” Madara stated flatly. “I would've noticed a chakra signature like his coming into the village. The only person I could imagine coming here to beat on you is Wolf, but... he wouldn't go _this_ far, would he?”

Sasuke frowned. “I don't... know. He's given Itachi black eyes before.”

… _were populating the ceiling ... black ooze onto the floor, the furniture, the bed... his skin and it_ _ **burned**_ _… he jerked away from the sensation … trying much harder to pull free of … grasp but it was impossible..._

His eyes widened hugely and his heart stuttered in his chest. Something else was disappearing. He was forgetting something else, something that had happened recently but not as recently as the first thing he'd forgotten. What was wrong with him? What was happening to him? Such selective memory loss was _clearly_ someone tampering with his memory but how were they doing it when they weren't even in the same room as him?

At that point, his heart had stopped stuttering and was instead racing thunderously in his chest. His panic was growing. He didn't even know if what he was forgetting was specific or if it was random. If it was random, something might be wrong with _him_. If it was specific, someone was messing with him. But he couldn't know which was the case because he was forgetting things faster than he was noticing that he was forgetting them. By the time he realized he was forgetting it, it was gone and once it was gone he couldn't verbalize _anything_ that Sasuke and Madara could repeat in an effort to jog his memory, or that they could use to hunt down the answer to what he'd forgotten, any anything else that might've helped.

“Itachi! Itachi, hey, calm down, calm down,” he didn't recognize the voice at first and for just a second he thought he was forgetting someone's _name_ , someone who was sitting directly in front of him, and it had him sucking in a shocked breath and blinking rapidly to clear his vision so he could see who was speaking and identify them by their face.

It was Madara. He let out the breath with a distressed sound and pressed his hand to his chest. His stomach was rolling and he felt like he was on the verge of actually throwing up. What if he forgot other things? What if he forgot the people in his life? What else was he going to forget? Why was he forgetting? How could he get it back? _Could_ he get it back?

Was it gone... permanently?

The idea of permanent memory loss was a terrifying prospect to him. His memory, his _mind_ , was his greatest defense and offense.

He couldn't just _lose_ it.

Abruptly, someone smacked him across the face, startling him out of his reverie of panic. He made a thin sound of protest and pressed his hand to the side of his face. He didn't have to look up to know that it had been Madara. He looked almost as panicked as Itachi felt.

“Itachi!” The oldest Uchiha's raised voice was like a beacon in the muddled darkness that was taking over his mind, “I don't know what's going on in your head right now but I need you to _stop_ and come back to me, _now_.”

Madara's hands cupped his cheeks, manually lifting his head until their gazes met. Itachi let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, reaching up with shaky hands and placing them over Madara's. He closed his eyes, muting his thoughts, forcing himself back to the ground.

After several deep breaths and a carefully silenced response from his mind, he opened his eyes again and looked Madara in the eye. His heart was still hammering and he was still impossibly nauseous, but he could smother most of the rest of what was going on with him in that moment.

“You okay?” Madara asked quietly. Itachi swallowed and nodded slowly. “Good. I'm writing to Kaisuki. We'll talk about this when she comes back. In the meantime, calm yourself.”

He nodded again. The once-ghost kneeling before him flashed him a grin and stood up, carefully helping him to his feet. He felt unsteady and his head was full of air. Nothing else seemed to be missing or going missing. He wasn't detecting any more fresh gaps in his memory. It seemed that, whatever had been happening, it had stopped for at least the time being.

Hopefully, it wouldn't start up again.

“I'm...” he shakily began, “I'm going to go lay down for a while. Wake me if I'm not up in an hour.”

Madara frowned but nodded anyway. “Alright,” he agreed. “An hour, then.”

“Itachi,” Sasuke's voice was extremely quiet but Itachi still heard him. He looked over at his little brother's ashen face and met his widened gaze. “If you start having... worse nightmares than usual, please... _please_ tell me.”

Itachi stared at him for a moment before he slowly nodded. He didn't know what Sasuke knew about what was going on but he didn't have the energy to pry at that moment. He could ask another time.

“I will,” he assured. Sasuke swallowed hard and nodded. Madara was watching the youngest of the three of them with a strange look in his eyes that Itachi couldn't place. He felt his heart jump into his throat but smothered the immediate anxiety. He was too much of a mess at that point to be trying to psychoanalyze anyone. In all honesty, he was probably just seeing things.

Itachi pointedly directed his gaze elsewhere and turned away from Madara and Sasuke. “I'll see you in an hour,” he spoke in a subdued voice.

“Yea,” Madara replied. Itachi didn't turn around as he walked down the hall, towards the bedroom that used to be his but was now 'his and Sasuke's and Madara's'. “Sleep well.”

 _We both know that I won't, Madara_.

…

“Holy fuck.” Kaisuki breathed as she stepped slowly into the massive cavern that Madara's directions had led her to. Her red eyes were wide as she looked around, Kisame beside her.

“That guy, Madara, did this?” Kisame slowly asked for clarification. Kaisuki swallowed hard and hummed an affirmative. “I guess he _must_ be the real deal if he did this.”

Kaisuki nodded, but didn't respond otherwise. She couldn't find her voice beyond what she'd said. There was blood _everywhere_. Spattered on the walls, smeared against the floor. There were candles laid around in a circular pattern and many of them were coated in long-since congealed red.

The bodies were long since gone, but the remains of what had happened in the cavern were all over everywhere and there were _still_ lingering, powerful chakra signatures hanging in the air. She could distinctly make out Madara's, and she could all but taste the demonic energy still in the air. Akatsuki had to have been the sacrifices – Teara didn't have any other groups of possessed individuals.

Or at least, not that Kaisuki was aware of.

The two of them walked further into the cave, looking around with critical eyes. Further in, in the midst of the candles, there were white smears on the ground. Upon further inspection, Kaisuki realized it was chalk. The pattern of what was left looked circular...

“ _This was a magic circle,_ ” Khrai suddenly said, sounding extremely disturbed. Kaisuki hadn't even realized she'd come back from her nap.

“ _Is there anything else you can tell about it, Khrai?_ ” Izumi's voice spoke next. She sounded tense. Kaisuki didn't blame her. As it was, the Yurei's mouth had never been drier.

“ _Kaisuki, let me up_ ,” Khrai requested. Without hesitation, Kaisuki stepped out of her way and let her take the reins. The elf wandered around, Kaisuki following her line of sight. Her eyes strayed to the candles as she approached one of the ones that had the least amount of blood on it, picking it up off the ground. It was mostly melted, it's shape long since lost. Khrai was looking it over very carefully. Carefully enough that Kaisuki knew there was something about it that she just couldn't see or didn't know about.

Khrai's fingers delicately traced the groves made by the dripping of once-hot wax. Kaisuki felt her lungs expand somewhat before Khrai began to sing in the quietest voice, more whispering than anything else. She could see Kisame out in her peripheral vision as he turned to look at her abruptly. She couldn't tell what expression he was wearing but she was sure he was trying to discern what Khrai was saying. Kaisuki couldn't understand her either. It was clear that she wasn't speaking their language, but her own – the language of the elves, whatever it was called.

Abruptly, at the last note, the world melted away into darkness around them. Khrai looked up from the candle, which she still held in her hand. Kisame was looking around as well, and now that Kaisuki could see his face, she could see the surprise in his eyes.

“Don't move, Kisame,” Kaisuki heard a deeper tone of her own voice speak. The blue-haired man blinked but nodded. They were probably fifty feet away from each other.

Kaisuki wanted to speak – and she was sure Izumi did as well (Saeka was sleeping somewhere) – but she had a feeling that they all ought to be paying excruciatingly careful attention to whatever was about to happen. Her stomach was turning. She hadn't _really_ believed that that Madara was the _real_ Madara. She had assumed he was a remake or something. But there was _no way_ a fraud could single-handedly _wipe out Akatsuki_.

There was about thirty seconds between the world going dark and then coming back. The time of day had changed – it was the middle of the night, where it had been broad daylight moments ago. The circle was still illegible on the ground, but the members of Akatsuki were all standing in clearly scripted spots, their hands clasped before them as they all chanted something silently. Kaisuki couldn't read their lips and, judging by the frown pulling at the corners of her mouth, Khrai couldn't either.

In the center of their circle was Madara. His face was even whiter than it had been when Kaisuki had met him, his face screwed up in discomfort. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be unconscious, but only barely. His hands were twitching slightly. He looked like he was on the verge of waking from a nightmare.

Abruptly, Madara's eyes flew open and there was a corresponding, _loud_ shockwave that rang through the air. The men who were standing around the circle all winced, their hands pressing against their eyes a comical, unanimous movement. There was a cracking sound in the air and someone said something unintelligible. Madara sat up suddenly, pressing his hand to his chest and groaning.

The man stood up on his own volition, seemingly not realizing at first that he had company. He pressed a hand to his chest, then his stomach, then his face, and finally looked down at his hands. He clenched and unclenched them experimentally, looking bewildered.

“Uchiha Madara,” Kaisuki didn't recognize the surprisingly female voice but, judging by the expression that crossed Kisame's face then, he clearly did. Madara looked over at the speaker, his eyebrows coming together as he watched the woman put her hood down.

“Konan.” Madara identified. The woman paused, looking momentarily surprised before she schooled her expression to indifference.

Her eyes narrowed. “Do you recognize what's going on?”

“No,” the Uchiha replied in the most patronizing tone Kaisuki had ever heard. It didn't escape her attention that he sounded somewhat breathless. “I'm only a fucking idiot. You resurrected me. If I didn't know it was for nefarious intentions, I would thank you. Instead, I'm going to be honest with you; I have to go. Now.”

“I'm afraid I can't permit that,” Konan ground out through a tightened jaw. “You'll stay right here, Madara.”

“Actually,” Madara replied, his tone darkening and a look of pure contempt crossing his face, “I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you to fuck off. Can't keep Itachi waiting. But I'm sure you already knew that.”

Konan opened her mouth to speak but the world abruptly darkened again. Seconds later, it was daytime again and Akatsuki and Madara were gone, leaving just Kisame and Kaisuki and an uneasy vibe in the air. There was a long pause.

“What was that all about?” Kisame asked as he walked over to the elf-piloted Yurei. “Reading the memory or something?”

“Kind of,” Khrai replied, a little out of breath. “It's an advanced form of candle-reading. I can't hold it long enough to see the whole scene, but that told me all I needed to know. Madara wasn't lying; they really did revive him and he really did kill them all so he could get back to Itachi.”

Kisame frowned. “I still can't get over the fact that he was carting around the ghost of Uchiha fucking Madara this whole time. How didn't I notice?”

Khrai turned from the reins and gave Kaisuki her body back, which she took over right away. She blinked to refocus her gaze on Kisame and smiled wearily. “He didn't want you to notice. Remind me again how many people you know who can act as well as Itachi can?”

That didn't seem to sit well with Kisame. She was about to add to her statement when a loud cawing had her jumping nearly out of her skin. She whirled around and spotted the familiar black bird standing at the mouth of the cave, tilting his head back and forth.

“Oh, hi there, Kuroi,” Kaisuki greeted, pressing a hand to her chest. “Can you not show up like a specter and share the shit out of me? Thanks.”

The crow cawed again and she rolled her eyes, walking back out to the mouth of the cave and crouching down before the bird. She could hear Kisame walking up behind her as she took the note off Kuroi's leg and unrolled it.

She skimmed the letter, her eyebrows coming together.

_Tsukai,_

_Something happened to Uta. Not sure what exactly but it seems someone attacked him. The day I'm writing this letter to you (3/17), Usake and I returned from the store to find him with a really bad black eye. He didn't and still doesn't remember what happened at all. He was hysterical for a while but I managed to talk him down._

_He seems to be okay now but he's really out of it. What should we do?_

_UM_

“What's up?” Kisame questioned. Kaisuki looked up at him right away, knowing that he didn't like to wait for an answer.

“Something happened to Itachi,” Kaisuki slowly explained. “Madara said someone attacked Itachi but he can't remember who. Looks like memory loss, but it's clearly selective. They're asking for advice, obviously.”

Kisame nodded slowly, “I thought only demons could wipe out memories like that.”

Kaisuki hummed in affirmation even as an uneasy feeling settled in her gut. It didn't feel like her own. It felt like Khrai's. What was Khrai worrying about? Was it an obvious concern for Itachi's welfare or did she _know_ something?

“ _Khrai, you good_?” She asked over her shoulder. The elf didn't reply right away.

When she finally did speak, her joking tone was lacking. “ _You've gotten really good at this whole Yurei business,_ ” she blatantly didn't answer the question, a lie of a smile present on her face when Kaisuki glanced over at her. “ _I'm fine, why?_ ”

“ _You don't feel fine,_ ” Kaisuki replied, turning her attention back to the world before her. Khrai didn't respond to that at all and seconds later, the elf's presence dissipated and she could feel the ancient spirit slinking away into the shadows in much the same way Saeka used to often do.

“ _Alright, well,_ ” she called out over her shoulder. Izumi was beginning to feel tense as well. “ _I'm going to make you tell me eventually, just so you know. Seems like it's probably important._ ”

She could practically hear Khrai flipping her off and couldn't help the wry smile that appeared on her face.

“So did I,” the Yurei replied with a frown, coming back to reality for just a moment. “I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think we should head back.”

Kisame nodded, “I agree. Write them back and we'll get going.”

“Good idea,” she responded, a little distracted. Izumi's tension was worsening.

“ _You alright, Izumi?_ ” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at the mother as she was pulling her bag off her shoulders and unloading her writing utensils. She got right to work composing the letter, thinking about what she needed to know before she could figure out what was wrong. Multitasking had become her best skill, in all honesty.

Izumi met her gaze evenly for only a few seconds before she looked to the ground. “ _I'm worried about Itachi-kun. I'm worried about him and Sasuke. I don't know Madara well enough to really trust him. Itachi seems to but... well, I already told you what I was seeing the other day. There's too much tension between them. Something's not right._ ”

Kaisuki nodded, recalling the conversation right away. “ _Itachi seems like he's caught between being somewhat afraid of Madara and being completely codependent on him. The relationship looks really unhealthy, even as little as I've seen of it._ ”

Izumi sighed out a tired laugh. “ _You're learning the language, I see. And your extrospective skills are far superior to my own, at least in this regard. I doubt you'll ever be the irou-nin that I am, but you'd do well in the mental health field._ ”

Kaisuki smiled internally, saddened. “ _If only I could just do whatever I wanna do when I grow up._ ”

She concluded her letter with her initials and deftly attached it to Kuroi's leg, “take this back to them.” She instructed. The crow tilted it's head to the side before he cawed loudly and took flight, heading off into the sky and out of sight.

“Everything alright?” Kisame's voice attracted her attention and she looked up at him. He was scrutinizing her, so clearly her expression had given away the fact that she was worrying about more than just Madara's letter.

“Uh... kinda no,” she replied with an uneasy chuckle. Kisame raised an eyebrow, waiting. “I'm not sure how to explain it. You'd have to see them together yourself, but... I dunno, something's just not right with Madara and Itachi. They seem really tense around each other, considering they've been inseparable for a decade.”

Kisame hummed. “I see. Well, whatever's going on, the best thing we can do is get you back there as quickly as possible. So let's fuck off.”

The smile that graced Kaisuki's expression then felt as painful as it likely looked. “Yes, let's.”

...

_Umada,_

_I'm literally halfway across the Shinobi Nations from you right now so what I can do is limited. I can start working my way back but I won't be in the area for at least a week and a half. What I can do from here depends on how much you can tell me._

_Did you notice anything strange about his chakra when you arrived on the scene? Did it feel darker, heavier, lighter, like it was fluctuating a lot, anything weird at all? How is his mental state now? Is he behaving differently in any way? More or less anxious, more or less depressed, more or less anything? How is he sleeping? Any nightmares or night terrors or weird dreams in general? Is his insomnia getting worse or better at all?_

_Let me know these things and I'll probably ask some follow up questions and pick up the pace if necessary. In the meantime, keep him as calm as you can and try to chill out yourselves. If it starts to get worse, let me know ASAP and I'll have Saeka sprint me to you._

_TK_

 


	25. the great escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I can't just post this shit on time. So, I've written Scene 1 of Chapter 27 but it's not done yet. It's looking like I'll be going on hiatus again for a bit :/ I'll let you know with the next chapter.

The following couple of days after the incident with Itachi's memory loss, Madara noticed no changes that raised any red flags. It was weird.

It wasn't that he'd been expecting Itachi to turn into a basket-case resembling Sasuke, but rather that he'd been expecting something horrible to come of that incident and nothing had happened at all. Itachi was just having nightmares about things he didn't usually have nightmares about - more specifically, his newly found phobia of memory loss.

There were very few things Itachi felt he could have. Everything he'd ever felt he could call his own had, at one point or another, been taken from him. His family, his home, his friends, his life, his body, his freedom, _everything_. Even at that point, with everything he'd once lost back in his hands, he still seemed to feel like he couldn't have it. There was nothing Itachi had at that point that he could possibly take for granted, with the exception of his mind. His mind had _never_ failed him.

Until last week, when his memory had been stolen from him. He hadn't seen Itachi meltdown like _that_ for a while - it had taken a good day and a half before he'd stopped randomly having panic attacks.

So, considering just how big of a deal it was, it was weird to Madara that nothing had changed. The memory loss had stopped. His hadn't started having worse nightmares - just different ones. He hadn't lost or gained appetite. His insomnia had neither improved nor worsened. His chakra hadn't been behaving oddly (Madara would _definitely_ have noticed _that_ ), it had still been as calm as a placid lake. His behavior hadn't seemed off, _nothing_ seemed to have changed for the worse or for the better.

The only thing that had happened was the isolated incident that started it.

He looked down at the letter they'd received from Kaisuki that morning, her long list of questions that he'd already answered. The answers to all of those questions had been some variation of "actually no, he's completely fine". He didn't know what else he could tell her. He had been trying to think of any and all questions he could that might aid her in her diagnosis of the problem, but he had no information to give her.

Whoever had punched Itachi had been packing a _lot_ of force behind their fist - they'd broken bone and split about two inches of flesh a good millimeter deep with a single blow. What if they had had the time to hit him more than once? Or had they been holding back on purpose? Considering the kind of people who had Itachi on their "Persons of Interest" list, the kid was lucky to have survived that encounter.

Chances were extremely high that their perpetrator had been possessed, but Madara hadn't picked up on any demonic chakra signatures in the area and by that point he _definitely_ knew what they felt like. It was literally a lead and a dead end in one breath.

He looked up from the letter again, staring at Itachi's back. Itachi was making dinner and Sasuke was sitting with Madara at the dinner table, waiting for his brother to give him directions to assist if necessary. It was quiet in the kitchen, save for the sounds of the sizzling frying pan and the knife hitting the cutting board as Itachi sliced up vegetables.

All was calm, at least at that moment.

"Sasuke," Itachi spoke, attracting his little brother's attention. "Can you come here?"

Madara watched the boy get up and approach his brother, resting his chin on the heel of his hand to prop his head up. "Yea?" Sasuke asked even as Itachi was handing him an open box of spaghetti.

"Can you break them and dump them in the pot?" Itachi offhandedly requested. At first, Madara thought nothing of it, but he saw Sasuke giving pause.

"You... can't?" Sasuke asked slowly, and then Madara saw him looking at his older brother's hands, which were unoccupied. He'd finished dicing the vegetables and the meat didn't need attention in that moment.

Itachi looked over his shoulder at his brother as he was reaching for the cupboard distractedly. "I..." he began, looking back at what he was doing and pulling out a glass. He filled it with water as Sasuke broke the spaghetti into two halves and dumped it all in the boiling water.

"I've been a little under the weather today and my grip has been pretty weak," Itachi absentmindedly said, though Madara did notice his voice was a bit subdued. "I just tried to break it myself but I can't. I think I'm just getting sick. I didn't eat much today, and that probably isn't helping so..."

Before Itachi could continue, there was a sharp knocking on the door. Sasuke sighed heavily and headed for the door, Madara watching him go. The door opened and Naruto's familiar chakra signature filled the room like the stench of sour milk. Madara looked over his shoulder momentarily before he turned back to Itachi. The man's back was to him already and he was stirring the pot of spaghetti.

"What were you saying?" Madara asked. Itachi looked over at him, blinking.

"Oh, that's all I was saying," the man replied nonchalantly. Madara stared at him. He had been looking a little pale the last day or two but he hadn't mentioned anything about weakness. The older Uchiha frowned and turned to his letter to Kaisuki.

_He has informed me that he feels weak today, though_

Madara pause mid-sentence when he felt Sasuke's chakra suddenly take on a tone he recognized. Unlike his brother, Sasuke had the most telling chakra of any individual Madara had ever met. It was most obvious when he was afraid, but second to that was pain, which Madara was picking up on right then. He stood up silently and stepped closer to the entrance to the hall, where he'd be able to hear whatever it was Naruto was saying.

"... - are you actually an idiot? What did Itachi tell you he's been doing the past ten years? _Networking_? Sasuke, your brother is a _mass murderer_ , has been for _years_ and always will be; what makes you think he found good, wholesome company on the _fucking road_?"

Madara felt his stomach drop as fury swelled inside him immediately. Could these people find nothing better to do that bully Sasuke until he turned against his brother? Did they _really_ have _nothing_ better to do?

He stepped around the corner, eyes smoldering with the Sharingan, and walked up behind Sasuke. The younger Uchiha didn't notice him at first, but Naruto did. The blond's pupil's blew huge and Madara saw him stiffen but he held his ground. The oldest Uchiha placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, startling the living daylights out of the kid, and addressed Naruto directly.

"Get out."

Naruto looked extremely offended. "Excuse me? Who the fuck are you to-..."

"Kid," Madara interrupted, gently pushing Sasuke out of the way so he could walk up to Naruto, who backed himself nearly into the door. "Either you leave _right now_ or I'm going to put you into dinner."

Naruto stiffened for a moment but then seemed to realize the ridiculousness of what Madara had said. He clenched his fists and glared defiantly in response, but Madara could feel the anxious stirrings of his chakra. His hairline was producing sweat and his carotid was pulsing. He was genuinely afraid. The blond could probably tell at that point that the Uchiha Madara who had turned up in Konohagakure looking for Itachi was the _real_ deal. He wondered if the kid could feel the angry simmering of the oldest Uchiha's hot chakra. Children these days were _too easy_.

The most powerful man in the history of the Shinobi Nations leaned forward until he knew he was uncomfortably close to the little brat, closed the distance another three inches, made unwavering eye contact, and said in a quiet, venomous voice:

"No one will notice you're gone if I put a genjutsu over the entire village and they'll never find your body if I _fucking eat you_."

Naruto's face turned white. Madara wasn't sure if it was because he believed the Uchiha would actually eat him or if it was because he knew that Madara would _definitely_ kill him if prompted by _anything_. "Y-... Ts-Tsunade won't like to hear you're threatening me, you know."

"Naruto," Madara slammed his hand against the door beside Naruto's head so fast and so loud, the boy jumped visibly and shrank back. " _Get. Out._ "

He dropped his hand down the door and turned the knob, opening it out from behind the blond. Naruto stumbled backwards, nearly hitting the ground, and Madara was slamming the door in his face a split second later.

He turned to Sasuke, who was staring at the door numbly. "You good?" He asked, letting out an irate huff. He really hated that blond little creep.

"Y-yea," Sasuke mumbled, "I'm fine, I- I just..."

Madara frowned, "what is it?"

He watched the boy's lip tremble before he whispered, "I hate it here. I want to leave."

Before Madara could reply with any form of comforting words, advice, or ideas, another crisis arrived. There was a crash - the sound of shattering glass - closely followed by the unmistakable _thud_ of someone hitting the floor without catching themselves. Madara and Sasuke made eye contact for just an instant before they hurried into the kitchen.

Itachi was already working on getting back up but he looked delirious, swaying back and forth and staring at the floor. Madara and Sasuke both dropped to the floor on either side of him, "Itachi, you okay?" Sasuke was already asking, sounding startled, "Itachi?"

His brother didn't respond right away and that immediately worried Madara. Itachi's eyes were glazed over and he was breathing erratically. "Itachi!" The oldest Uchiha shook him a little, still nothing. At that point, panic was starting to set in. He'd been fine, albeit weak, less than ten minutes ago. At that point he was having progressively more and more difficulty breathing and his face had lost so much color he looked nearly dead. His skin didn't feel cold - in fact, it felt burning hot. Like he was actually _sick_ , as he'd mentioned before.

There was glass and water all over the floor. "Let's move him, Sasuke," Madara stated, grabbing the prodigy under one arm. Sasuke grabbed his other and, on the count of three, they stood up with him. "Living room couch." Madara commanded.

Moments later, Itachi had been lain down on the couch. In that amount of time, his eyes had slipped shut and his breathing had become somewhat shallow. All Madara could think of was how horrible he'd looked the day he and Kisame had picked up Sumi, but there weren't any demons in the area - Madara would've sensed them!

 _What the_ _**fuck** _ _is going on?_

There was a banging at the door and Madara looked at Sasuke briefly before he stood up and stalked across the room, to the door. He threw it open, " _What_?" He snarled before coming to realize that it was Wolf, Cat, and a couple of regular ANBU members.

Wolf didn't waste a moment darkly replying, "Where are they?"

Madara froze for a moment. "What? What happened?"

"They been told multiple times that the younger needs to move his weapons. He hasn't. They're being arrested for violating probation," Cat replied coolly. "Whether you see them again or not depends on their reason for violating orders."

Madara was still for a moment. "What the _fuck_ are you talking about? I have heard jack shit about this."

"Just because they don't tell you something, doesn't mean it never happened," Wolf replied icily. "Step aside or I'll arrest you too. I was going to hold off taking you in until they were sentenced as a formality but it's not required that I wait."

"Madara?" Sasuke's voice floated through the door just as Madara was about to tell Wolf that they weren't in at the moment. "What is it?"

A moment later, Madara felt the younger brother step into the hall behind him. "W-what's going on?"

"You," Wolf sneered, "and your brother are being arrested. Where is he? You," he turned back to Madara, " _step aside_."

"For what _!_?" Sasuke exclaimed in bewildered horror, "what did _I_ do?"

"You disobeyed instructions related to your probation," Wolf stated. He looked like he wanted to shove past Madara but, like most, was somewhat apprehensive of touching the Uchiha without his permission.

"What instructions? I haven't seen you in _weeks_ because you only come by when no one but Itachi is home!" Sasuke all but hollered, looking distraught and furious. Some might have thought Sasuke's reaction was exaggerated - probably the ANBU in their doorway, in fact - but Madara knew that Itachi was seemingly dying in the other room. They _couldn't_ let Wolf take him in; the guy would probably poison Itachi and then claim he'd been sick when they brought him in and _then_ tell everyone that _Madara_ had poisoned him.

Sasuke wasn't lying. Sasuke was distressed and frightened. That left only one other option: _Wolf_ was lying. Why would Wolf lie about something like that?

_"Who hit you?"_

Madara's stomach dropped and he concentrated extremely hard for just a moment and read all the information he was getting from Wolf. He was acting conceited; excited. He seemed to be trying to pretend he was furious but wasn't succeeding and was instead coming across as low-key ready to throw a party. His chakra was practically laughing at the situation, at Sasuke's watering eyes and wavering voice, at the prospect of getting to take Itachi in. But there was something more going on. There was something else.

_"I don't... remember."_

_"He's given Itachi black eyes before.”_

_"What instructions?_! _"_

 _Wolf hit him._ _**Wolf** _ _hit him._

He wasn't possessed though. So why? Something else had to be wrong. Perhaps he was corrupt or being bribed. Perhaps he was under a spell. Madara didn't know, but he remembered the Wolf that Itachi had known before the massacre. That Wolf hadn't been a kind or gentle soul, but he'd been morally sound. He'd been _mentally_ sound. Wolf barely seemed to have an ounce of self-control in Itachi's presence now. He couldn't seem to refrain from attacking him. Wolf had never been the type to hold grudge like _that_. The man wouldn't forgive his own mother for leaving his father behind but he'd never put someone in an interrogation chamber past their use point. There was absolutely no reason for the number of times Wolf had taken Itachi into his interrogation chambers. The man used to have more faith in his ability to extract information; what answers he got, he knew were the truth.

Sure, Itachi was a tough nut to crack, but this was _excessively_ cruel and Wolf had _never_ been a cruel person.

Why hadn't they seen it before?

_Because Itachi will take any and all forms of abuse from anyone and accept responsibility for it, whether it's just punishment or not._

Wolf obviously wasn't possessed but _something_ was wrong with him and Madara wasn't going to let him anywhere near Itachi ever again. The interrogator took a step towards Sasuke, heading past Madara, but the oldest Uchiha stepped directly into his path, blocking the way.

"Move," the interrogator growled, "or else I'll-..."

_"I hate it here. I want to leave."_

"You'll _what_?" Madara hissed in reply. The other ANBU members stiffened and Wolf looked a little taken aback.

"Do you know who you're speaking to?" The man ground out. Madara's vision flickered to something brighter, clearer, and more vivid as he activated his Sharingan. Wolf all but flinched as he slid a foot back.

"Do _you_?" He replied icily. "Wolf, I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen closely: we're leaving this village, we won't be coming back, and there is _nothing_ you're going to do about it."

There was an eerie pause.

" _Excuse_ me?" Wolf deadpanned with some kind of furious incredulity.

"W-what?" Sasuke's voice spoke up from behind him. Madara turned to look at him and smiled.

"Sasuke, go look after your brother, make sure he's safe" he ordered in a even voice. He slowly returned his attention to the ANBU standing before him. There were five of them standing there altogether but he knew there would more when the fireworks started. He didn't have any weapons on him, but he had his chakra.

That was really all he'd need.

"I'll come for you both in just a moment."

...

_Tsukai,_

_DO NOT come to Konohagakure. I repeat: DO NOT COME TO KONOHAGAKURE, at least until you've seen us. Please meet us at the Hut on the Hill. Shigaki will know what I mean._

_In regard to Uta... originally, I was going to tell you that he's fine, because he was. However, the day we left the village, he complained of weakness and eventually collapsed and became delirious and extremely feverish._

_He's still pretty out of it but he's been recovering well._

_His chakra feels a bit weaker, not darker or lighter. When it first happened, there were no changes at all. At this point he just feels weak and tired._

_No noticeable amounts of anxiety or depression. His nightmares haven't worsened, he's just having them about memory loss now instead of the usual. He's spent a lot of time in bed. He hasn't had any interest in getting up._

_I'm really_ _**really** _ _worried at this point. We both are. I don't have any medical evidence but I have a feeling this isn't the end of it. Please hurry._

_Umada & Usake & Uta_

...

After Kaisuki got Madara's update about Itachi's condition and their new location, she and Kisame picked up the pace twentyfold.

He could tell that Kaisuki was concerned. Kisame himself was concerned. They'd been moving mostly in silence since Kaisuki had explained the contents of the letter. The fact that the three of them had gotten out of Konohagakure suggested that something had _happened_. Why did they leave?

He didn't know when or if he would get an answer out of them.

He hadn't been to their safe house in a long time. All partnerships in Akatsuki were told to find themselves a safe house somewhere. Itachi and Kisame had put theirs together after the first time Itachi fell seriously ill, about two years into their partnership. It had been a nasty bout of pneumonia, but at that point Kisame suspected it was the earliest sign of his Inflammatory Lung Syndrome.

They stepped up to the door and Kisame knocked in the pattern he and Itachi had come up with before opening the door and walking in, Kaisuki trailing behind him silently. No one was in the main part of the house. Kisame looked towards the back, where the bedrooms and bathroom were, and frowned.

"Hello? Anyone home?" He called, stepping further inside. Kaisuki ducked under his arm as he held the door open for her. "Itachi?"

The sound of footsteps reached them and a not a moment later Sasuke stepped out into the living area, looking _exhausted_ but nonetheless happy to see them. "Hi," he greeted, walking up to Kaisuki. She approached him as well and they hugged for a moment before Kaisuki asked the burning question.

"Where are Itachi and Madara? Back there? And what happened, why did you leave?" She wanted to know. She looked like her fretfulness was mounting. She worried so much about those boys.

"U-uh... Itachi and Madara are back there, yea," Sasuke said softly. "Itachi's sleeping but I... should get Madara."

Kaisuki nodded slowly. "Yes, please do." The youngest Uchiha nodded and ducked back into the house.

Kisame gazed at the back of Kaisuki head. He wasn't entirely sure what to think yet - he still hadn't met Madara. Sasuke looked like he hadn't slept in days. They'd left Konohagakure, likely not on friendly terms. Something was wrong with Itachi. A lot of things had been happening rapid fire and it _looked_ like it had started with Madara's revival. Chances were high that Madara escaping and getting to Itachi had _not_ been part of the plan, so he supposed it made sense that things would sort of start going to pieces after that happened. Still though, it didn't make him feel very good about who Madara actually was. He believed Kaisuki when she said he was the real deal but it just seemed like too much was going wrong.

Footsteps returned and a man fitting Madara's appearance stepped into the room without Sasuke. He looked a bit banged up - bruises, cuts, and burns here and there - but he seemed to be somewhat more alert, though very troubled.

Kisame stared at him for a moment. It was kind of weird to see a piece of history walking around in modern times.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you exactly what I asked Sasuke: what happened? Why did you leave the village?" Kaisuki asked right away, her tone less gentle than when she spoke to Sasuke. Kisame glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to Madara. He wanted to gauge as much of this man's behavior and personality as quickly as possible.

Madara stared at her, frowning. He seemed to be _very_ troubled. "Wolf is the one who gave Itachi that black eye and then wiped his memory of it. He also told Sasuke to move his weapon's stash and then made him forget so he could get both him and Itachi in trouble for violating probation."

"What makes you think that?" Kisame wanted to know where the rather stretched accusations were coming from. He understood that demons had subtler tells than humans, and he knew that the tells were largely based on instinct rather than physical evidence.

"It's hard to explain, but you've been in the presence of possessed people before, right?" Madara began. Kisame nodded expectantly. "When you're a sensory type, it's like talking to someone who's wearing an expression of anger or something while they're laughing. It was like that, only with his chakra. His chakra felt clear of demonic influence but it wasn't _behaving_ normally. Saeka would've felt it too if she were there, I know it. He was trying to act angry and forceful but his chakra was acting like someone who was _enthralled_ by what he was doing. It reminded me of how _Hidan_ is, and Wolf is _not_ Hidan."

Kisame nodded but didn't say anything, and Kaisuki continued the conversation, "Okay, so you made this deduction about Wolf being _off_... what happened after that?"

"I had a feeling he was going to lock them up and then pass at least one of them off to Teara without telling anyone." He sighed, pressing his fingers into his eyelids. "Naturally, I wasn't going to let him just walk off with them after having a thought like _that_ , so I decided to take our leave instead. Everyone in the village had a problem with that and now they're down by a third of their population. Team 7 lives but Kakashi doesn't have the Sharingan anymore. Itachi's..."

Kaisuki nodded encouragingly for him to continue. "He's what?" Kisame couldn't help wonder what had crossed her mind when Madara had mentioned that the village was down by that many people. They hadn't gotten a number that high from the local papers, but she hadn't outwardly reacted at all. Itachi's dirty little secret had to have killed over three hundred people in her hometown. Maybe more. Probably more. He didn't actually know how many people were in Konohagakure.

"I don't even know how to describe it, just... come on," he beckoned them to follow him and headed towards the back. Kisame and Kaisuki exchanged a glance for a second before they followed after Madara.

Sasuke had a hand pressed to his sleeping brother's forehead, looking bothered. When they walked in, the younger Uchiha looked up. "He fell asleep again."

Madara sighed softly, "Is his fever back?"

"No, I was just seeing," Sasuke replied quietly, pulling his hand away from Itachi's head and touching his shoulder instead, "Itachi, wake up."

His brother groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes. Itachi looked towards the foot of the bed and Kisame watched his eyes settle on the newcomers for a moment. "Hey," he greeted weakly, drawing out the word and closing his eyes again.

"Itachi-kun," Izumi's voice came through at that moment. "I heard what happened to you. How are you feeling?"

Itachi opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling. "I'm just... tired. And I... um, I don't... feel well."

"Don't feel well how?" Izumi wanted to know.

Itachi shrugged and it was the slowest motion Kisame had ever seen him preform. "I don't... just... tired. I mean, w-... uh, weak. I feel... weak. I want to sleep."

"Do you remember what happened in Konohagakure?" The irou-nin continued her questionnaire without commenting on Itachi's fatigue. She looked extremely worried and was clearly starting with a cognitive assessment. So far, by the look on her face, it seemed like he was failing the assessment.

"No, um," Itachi whispered, rolling onto his other side so slowly, it looked like he was being weighed down by tons of pressure, "I wasn't... um, awake for... that."

"You weren't awake?" Izumi clarified details Kisame knew she already knew about. Definitely an assessment. "Why not?"

Itachi stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I was... um... getting, uh... I mean, waiting for... Madara and Sasuke to... to come back into the... room. I got really... dizzy and I fell and... then everything went dark for... for a while."

It was becoming worrisome, just how slowly and disjointedly Itachi was speaking. Kisame's stomach was sinking steadily. He looked over at Izumi as she nodded, her eyebrows coming together. "Where were Madara and Sasuke?"

Itachi looked at her. "Um... I think someone was... at the door."

 _You_ _**think** _ _? You don't_ _**know** _ _?_

At that, Izumi looked to Madara and Sasuke, the latter of whom answered. "It was Naruto. He was... being Naruto. Madara came to the door after I answered it to chase him off by threatening to eat him."

Izumi smiled at that, seemingly before she could help herself. "I see." She said. The younger Uchiha nodded silently. Izumi hummed and turned back to Itachi. "When did you come back into the picture, Itachi-kun? Where were you?"

"We were... here." Itachi softly replied. "I woke up here."

At that, Kisame immediately addressed Sasuke - he knew how far the safe house was from Konohagakure. It usually took him and Itachi about three or four days to walk it if they weren't in a hurry, two if there were in a _big_ hurry. "How long did it take you guys to get here?"

Sasuke looked at the blue-haired man, blinking, "Uh, two days?" Kisame nodded and Sasuke continued. "We had to take turns carrying him on the way here. Believe it or not, this is a seventy-five percent improvement from when we first got here. The first two or three days he couldn't understand us or speak _at all_."

Kisame stared at him. Izumi had blanched Kaisuki's already pale skin. "You didn't mention cognitive impairments like _that_ in your letter, Madara." Izumi slowly said.

Madara hung his head. "I know," he softly replied. "I forgot I hadn't... that isn't the only thing I left out. I didn't want to say how bad he was really doing in a letter. Wartime instincts, sorry."

"Alright," the irou-nin sighed, pressing a finger against her temple for a moment. "Tell me all of it, then, please."

Madara nodded, "On the first day, he couldn't walk, talk, or understand us. He couldn't concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds before he'd get distracted by something moving. Halfway through the second day, he got up and took a shower on his own accord, but he still couldn't talk. He didn't start talking until yesterday afternoon, actually, and from that point it's just been a struggle understanding him some of the time. He's getting better, it's just slow and it started _really_ bad. When he first collapsed, he was having trouble breathing. It was like his brain forgot how to operate certain parts of his body."

"I suspect it's demonic poisoning," Khrai's voice came through suddenly. " _Really bad_ demonic poisoning; I've never seen a case this bad before."

"When would he have gotten it, though? The incident with the memory loss was days before this started," Sasuke asked uncertainly.

Khrai shrugged. "I don't know, I wasn't there. I doubt Wolf was the only person in Konohagakure who's possessed. Someone else probably did something. When was Naruto over in relation to Wolf?"

"Like five minutes before," Madara grumbled. "Do you think that little creep is possessed? That would be annoying, all things considered."

Khrai sighed and nodded. "Probably. Jinchuriki of the kyuubi is possessed by a real demon. _That's_ a great _fucking_ combination. Anyway, since he's away from them now he should recover fine, it's just a matter of waiting out his symptoms. Demonic poisoning doesn't usually cause permanent damage unless it's _really_ fucking bad," Khrai explained, looking down at Itachi again. Kisame followed her gaze when he saw her shoulders sag somewhat. Itachi had fallen asleep again, seemingly oblivious to seriousness of the discussion and the fact that it was about him.

"He doesn't have enough energy in his system for any of us to pick up on it, so I suspect he's just having such a nasty reaction because he's so sensitive to it," she continued with a sympathetic frown. "A little goes a long way with this one. We'll all stay here at least until he's back to normal, and then we can delegate someone or two to accompany Kaisuki on the road."

The conscious men in the room all nodded. "On that note," Kaisuki's voice returned to them at that moment, "let's let him sleep. He needs rest if he's going to recover quickly. We'll wake him for dinner as soon as I'm done with it."

Another chorus of nods and the four of them silently left the room, leaving the door ajar.

"I'm gonna dump this bag in one of the other rooms," Kisame said offhandedly, heading further into the place.

"Alright, I'm gonna start food," Kaisuki replied to him. Kisame hummed in acknowledgment.

He walked in the room he'd already chosen and dropped the satchel on the floor, then dumped himself on the bed and pondered the situation and the information he'd received thus far. He wasn't an investigator of the supernatural on the same level that Kaisuki was but he _had_ worked in Akatsuki for more than half his life.

Itachi was wanted by the Underworld. According to Sasuke, one side wanted him dead (but didn't seem all that committed, just judging from the fact that Sumi was the only one ever sent after him) and the other side wanted to capture him, for still-unknown reasons. Kaisuki had said that they'd deduced that Teara needed Sasuke so he could get Itachi, and Itachi so he could get his hands on Madara. According to Sasuke, Teara's behavior suggested that his life likely depended on him finding Madara, and he was willing to do anything and sacrifice anyone to succeed.

At the same time though, Teara hadn't been around for the revival of Madara, and Kaisuki and Kisame hadn't been able to find him in a while. Madara getting away was _obviously_ not part of the plan. Was it possible that Teara was being punished or had been killed for a failure? Or was he on the run, somewhere? Or was he just doing something behind the scenes, biding his time and waiting for an opportune moment to strike them down? Or perhaps waiting for an opportune moment to escape his employers?

He didn't care about Teara. He cared about what the man was doing. When Teara was missing in action, it made Kisame uneasy. Out of everyone they knew, everyone they had faced, Teara was the biggest threat. He was the strongest, the fastest, deadliest, and the most resourceful enemy they currently had. He had a legion of demons at his command, not to mention however many he carried with him to enable the superhuman abilities he boasted, such as the use of their magic, shadow manipulation, and unfair strength. He lacked a conscience. He didn't seem to feel emotions like joy and he didn't seem to know what kindness looked like.

The thing was... at a certain point, Kisame had been the same. Human beings didn't turn out like _that_ for no reason. Kaisuki had been worried (so worried she'd been spouting things that were _none_ of his business) about Sasuke's mental status but Kisame knew the kid was right to see humanity in Teara. Despite how he behaved, the man was only that - a man. He hadn't been born evil; someone had made him that way.

It hadn't surprised Kisame to hear that Teara was probably looking for Madara out of self-preservation. At one point, Kisame had been doing something similar. At one point, he'd been a mercenary who would kill anyone and preform any task to stay on his "godfather's" good side.

Kirigakure raised their shinobi to be like that. Some of those shinobi escaped that life, other's didn't. Kisame had escaped his country but it had taken a lot longer to escape his homeland's teachings (or lack thereof).

Honestly, the major difference between Kisame and Teara was that Kisame had been raised by _humans_. Humans, whether it was intentional or not, had morals of some kind, ethics of some kind, values of some kind. All of them, even the crazy ones. Even if those morals were skewed beyond recognition by any normal, sane person, _all humans had morals that they lived by_.

Demons didn't. Demons didn't live by a code; they lived by their list of wants. They wanted to kill. They wanted to torture. They wanted to cause pain. They wanted to ruin lives and break minds. Teara had been raised by a group of monsters that didn't know what the word "conscience" _meant_. How would he have learned that he _could_ be good if he didn't know even what good was supposed to look like?

Akatsuki had offered Kisame some solaces and some freedoms, but more importantly, they had differentiated for him "good" and "bad", to some degree. Akatsuki was a criminal organization in the eyes of the law; they all knew that, but the leaders were visionaries who saw something better for the world that they could _do_ instead of wait for.

They knew that some of the things they had to do were awful and cruel. They knew that some of the things they did were unjust and unnecessary in the eyes of the ones suffering. They believed that the end that they could see was worth the means it took to get there, but they had always been willing to tell him the truth when he asked them how his task was helping someone somewhere.

Teara hadn't had that set of teachers. It was unfortunate but chances were that there was no way they'd ever get through to that man anyway. He'd spent his entire life under the watchful eyes of the Underworld and by that point, if he'd had it even half as rough as Sasuke had, he was probably terrified of the people he worked for. The best thing they could do for Teara and the rest of the world was kill him.

But knowing that the white-haired man had to have been suffering unimaginably at the hands of those _things_ , never finding any salvation...

Kisame sighed softly and closed his eyes. He didn't like the direction things seemed to be going. He didn't like it at all.

 


	26. Victim's Empathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day, I will do this on time again. I am SO SORRY.

_**26.** _

His mind had returned to him (finally, days later) but he still felt "off".

Itachi stared out the window in the reading nook in the room he shared with Madara and Sasuke. He was still tired and the heaviness in his limbs persisted. He could function, though. He was strong enough to not drop _everything_ he picked up. He was also still having trouble finding the words to communicate his jumbled thoughts.

Those seemed to be the only persisting symptoms, though. The rest of them had completely abated.

Other than that, he just felt strange. Like his body didn't fit, or something. He didn't know how to describe it. Khrai had explained that it was probably a side effect of the space the demonic energy had been taking up within him. She hadn't done a very good job explaining it and Itachi had been too messed up to understand half of her monologue anyway. In retrospect, he should've waited to ask.

There wasn't much to look at out the window so he returned his attention to the book he was reading. He'd forgotten that he'd hoarded half a library in the safe house during the periods he was sick. He'd send his partner off to get him "a handful" of books. Kisame would invariably come back with a literal handful - however many he could stack between his thumb and his fingers, which was about five to eight books, depending on individual thickness. Itachi would read until he felt better and then they'd be back on the road.

_"This one is the sound "ko"." Itachi indicated the letter on the page, "As in "ko"-nnichiwa."_

_Kisame nodded. Itachi could see him committing the symbol to memory. He was a good student. It had only taken Itachi a few months of instruction before he was picking out things of his own to read. Itachi had felt a little condescending for thinking it, but he'd been very proud of his partner when he'd caught him with his nose in some thick fictional tome._

His partner had been very motivated to learn how to read. Kirigakure didn't care about the quality of education as much as they cared about the quality of their mission results. The bloodthirsty nation deprived their shinobi of basic education because they didn't want them thinking too much. Kisame had told him about it. Itachi had been appalled, naturally. He knew he was privileged to live in a loving, peaceful village like Konohagakure, but not teaching them to _read_? How were they supposed to read mission debriefings?

_"We got our debriefings orally. No records, you know?"_

He realized suddenly that he'd read about twelve pages and didn't remember anything that had happened. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was also still having some issues with his attention span. He turned back to the last thing he actually remembered and picked up where he left off.

He only got a few sentences in before he heard Kaisuki holler through the house - "boys!"

Since when were they "boys"?

He bookmarked his page and set the book down on the seat he'd been occupying as he was getting out of it. He was halfway across the room when Madara poked his head in the cracked-open door. "You heard her?"

"Yes," he stated shortly. Madara pursed his lips and looked around the room with a strangely suspicious eye before retreating back out of the doorway. Itachi sighed, shaking his head, and followed after him.

Kaisuki was standing, leaned up against the table. Kisame was seated at the same table. Sasuke was on the couch and scooted over to make room when Madara and Itachi entered the room. Madara sat down on the couch. Itachi joined his brother and companion, allowing Madara to pull him closer.

"I'm going to be hitting the road tomorrow. Teara's still missing in action and the Underworld's been pretty quiet lately," Kaisuki dove right in. "I get anxious when I'm not elbow deep in their business so I gotta go figure out what they're doing. Who's coming with me? I can bring a maximum of two of you but I'd rather bring just one."

Itachi turned to Madara before he realized what he was doing. Madara looked back at him, a moment of silent communication, before the older Uchiha frowned and shook his head minutely. Itachi's heart sank. Madara didn't want him to go; that meant he wasn't going to go. Clearly his companion had no interest in the outside world anymore. That was weird in and of itself.

"What?" He didn't realize at first that he was being spoken to until Kisame addressed him directly. "Itachi-san?"

He looked up. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me, you brat, what is that face?" Kisame demanded, looking somewhat annoyed. "What, did mom say you can't come? You know you're a grown-ass man, right?"

Itachi stared at him. Then he glanced at Kaisuki, and then at Sasuke. He didn't know what to say. If he tried lying or playing it off, he had a feeling he was going to fail horrendously. He diverted his gaze away from their faces and remained silent. The issues he was having putting his words together coherently was literally killing him.

"Itachi?" Kaisuki pressed. Itachi didn't move or speak.

"My vision isn't based on sound _or_ movement," Kisame snapped, "and ignoring me won't make me go away. Answer my god damn question."

He felt Madara's chest move as though he were taking a breath to offer some witty (and likely ice cold) retort but Itachi came up with a reply at the last second and cut him off to diffuse the situation. "It's fine, really. I wanted to go but not without Madara." He wound up lying anyway.

_Please don't ask questions, please don't ask questions, please don't ask questions..._

Kisame and Kaisuki didn't answer him and Itachi didn't want to look at them. He knew his partner would cotton on to his lie, but Kisame didn't pry about things when Itachi was being dodgy. Kaisuki would keep her mouth shut if someone told her to and he expected that Izumi would tell her to let him have his lie. Or at least, he hoped so.

"Okay then, I guess," Kaisuki huffed, sounding a little troubled. Thank goodness. She wasn't angry, just troubled. Perhaps a little annoyed somewhere along the line, but at least she wasn't angry. He was sure Khrai was cursing at him loudly, but... well, Kaisuki could handle calming her down. "Anyway, so I gather Kisame is the only one coming with me?"

"I... don't think I should be... wandering around out there." Sasuke mumbled softly, sounding a little dejected. "I kind of want to, honestly, but..." He trailed off into silence. Itachi was thankful that someone else had attracted everyone's attention.

"Sasuke," Kaisuki responded to his unfinished statement. "If you want to, you should come. You can trust Kisame and I to keep you safe."

Itachi decided he shouldn't say what he was thinking, which was: "Actually, I'm not sure that Madara and I should be left home alone because sometimes we get a little physical with each other when we're angry."

"Well..." Sasuke sounded hesitant but Itachi could tell he wanted to go. "Do you expect to... to run into Teara?"

Itachi found himself instantaneously struck with how much he hated Teara. His mind began to wander and within seconds he was thinking somewhat angrily about the few things Sasuke had told him about the man and what he had done.

Teara kept Sasuke in a cell when he wasn't forcing him to follow the older man everywhere. Teara had forced Sasuke to massacre entire villages worth of men, women, and children. Teara had forced Sasuke to train and then attempt to capture his still-adored older brother. Teara had beaten Sasuke for anything and everything. Teara had broken Sasuke down in as many ways as he could in three years.

Itachi still didn't know the extent of everything Teara had done to Sasuke. His little brother didn't remember a lot of it, not to mention the things Itachi knew his younger brother just wasn't telling him. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to learn all those details.

And Teara hadn't been seen nor heard from in a few weeks, or so Kaisuki had said. The man could be anywhere, doing anything. He could be plotting their imminent demise. He could be lying in wait for them just beyond Khrai's barrier for all they knew. He could be doing a lot of damage to their already-broken world while they were sitting on their thumbs waiting for a catastrophe to point them in the right direction.

_**A catastrophe has already happened.** _

He wasn't sure where that thought came from, nor what it was talking about, but...

_Someone was gripping his hair. His head hurt. Someone said something, another someone replied. He cracked his eyes open, tried to make sense of the world around him. It was extremely hot. The world was shades of orange and red that moved and twisted around like the shadows the demons used._

_Was it fire? He wanted to reach out and touch it to see if it was._

_The hand holding his hair jerked harshly before it released him. He didn't have the strength to hold himself up so he pitched to the side until someone caught him. He couldn't move._

_"Itachi!" He could faintly hear someone speaking. He recognized it as Sasuke. Felt a pair of fingers press against his neck. What was his odd little brother doing? A moment later Itachi was lifted off the ground._

_"You alright?" A pause. "Come on," he recognized that voice, he was sure. Wasn't that Madara? "We should probably get the fuck out of here right about now. You know, before the rest of the reinforcements come."_

_He opened his eyes again. There was something wet on his cheek. They were moving again, this time much faster. The air abruptly cooled and darkened around them._

_Itachi looked back over whoever's shoulder. All he could see was Konohagakure, ravaged by flames that reached the sky._

_Teara had nothing to do with Madara and Sasuke's poor excuse for an escape plan, though. How does this relate to him?_

_**Are you kidding? How does it** _ _ **not** _ _**? Why would Madara need to wipe out two-thirds of the village to get you and Sasuke out? Isn't he the strongest shinobi to ever live?** _

_So, he didn't need to kill all the those people... then why did he?_

"Well..." Sasuke was mumbling as Itachi abruptly crashed back into reality. "I... I trust you, Kaisuki. I'll... go with you."

"You want to?" Kaisuki responded immediately. Itachi had no idea what they were talking about. "You're sure?"

His little brother nodded, smiling just slightly. "I've been wanting to travel with you for a while."

 _Right_.

He was immediately met with the realization that he didn't want to be left home alone with Madara. The man... he didn't want to think of it as possible, but the fact of the matter was that Madara only had a portion of his soul; not the whole thing. It was uncertain how much he _did_ have, but the fact that he was lessened in general meant it was that much more possible for him to get possessed... right?

At the point it had gotten, there was _nothing_ he could do without admitting that the older Uchiha occasionally beat on him for various reasons. He couldn't tell them that. They'd all probably agree to kill the man and then Madara would probably kill them defending himself. He didn't really want to be stuck alone with Madara for the rest of eternity.

So he couldn't do anything.

He felt sick.

"Alright, then it's settled. Kisame and Sasuke will accompany me, Madara and Itachi will keep the house warm. Everyone okay with that?" Kaisuki decreed. Itachi bobbed his head mutely, hoping his face wasn't ash white.

He felt her eyes linger on him but he still didn't look up. "No problems on this end of the couch." Madara cheerfully replied. Itachi's stomach twisted. The man's chakra didn't feel darker. He wasn't possessed, right? He couldn't be possessed if his chakra didn't feel darker.

_**Well, who knows, right? Maybe they've figured out another way, one that would be easier to hide.** _

_Yea, maybe... I need to just wait and observe for now._

But he didn't want to be home alone with the man.

However, there just wasn't anything he could do about it _now_. Kaisuki had probably been hoping he would speak up if something was bothering him. The confirmation of who was accompanying her had definitely been an intended opportunity for him to voice any concerns. However, he couldn't do that in front of Madara. He just couldn't.

He would need time to explain _why_ Madara did the things he did, but none of them would give him that time if Madara was _in the room_.

"Me and Kisame will go out now to stock the kitchen and then the three of us will leave in the morning," Kaisuki stated.

Kisame nodded, "Then let's go?" He suggested. The Yurei nodded and smiled, the two of them grabbed their cloaks, and a moment later they were gone. Itachi didn't even think to wave them off.

Itachi felt like his brain had gone numb.

"Then I'm gonna get back to my book," he quietly said, the lie coming out on autopilot. He rose shakily and headed into the room he'd been sharing with his brother and Madara. He got comfortable in the nook again and put his nose into his book, trying to force himself to concentrate on it. Madara didn't usually bother him when he was reading. Maybe he could just reread every book in his library while they were spending all that time alone. Madara wouldn't bother him and then he wouldn't have to worry so much about them getting into a fight.

His eyes burned and he wasn't sure why.

_**I don't like this feeling.** _

_Me neither._

...

The three of them had left a few days ago and had traveled halfway to Konohagakure. Kaisuki had wanted to check out the damage that Madara had caused but, within about twenty minutes of leaving, she was anxious. _Very_ anxious. They plodded on, but she was having low-key panic attacks periodically.

She was extremely worried about Itachi.

Itachi was at least somewhat afraid of Madara and that kind of fear didn't just come out of nowhere. The man wasn't the type to be afraid of someone just because they were stronger, either. He only became fearful of people after repeated acts of violence that were out of his control. Itachi's ability to feel secure in his surroundings hung entirely on how much he knew about said environment.

If he couldn't predict what was going to happen next, he would get nervous. He had grown up being able to read his surroundings and the people around him better than anyone. Itachi _always_ knew what would happen next, no matter what the circumstances were, and his Sharingan had become a strong aide in that as soon as he developed it. He relied heavily on deductive reasoning so he could predict the next few seconds or minutes and react accordingly.

But if he was stuck in a situation where he couldn't predict or control his surroundings for long enough, he would become fearful of whatever or whoever had been keeping him like that.

She knew that because Itachi had become _terrified_ of Wolf within a couple of months, which had only worsened over time. Years before that, he'd been wary of Saeka because of the times she'd unpredictably lost control and went after him for little to no reason. She was sure that there were others he'd grown fearful of after periods in captivity. He had been in ANBU _and_ Akatsuki, after all.

But he had been with _Madara_ for almost fifteen _years_. Maybe more; she couldn't remember how old they all were.

She didn't know if Madara was actually physically abusive or if he just exploded on Itachi a lot when it was just the two of them, but she would bet on the former. It took more than empty threats to frighten Itachi and she knew that Madara was way out of the league of pretty much everyone they hung out with.

She had heard what had happened in Konohagakure on her way to the safe house to meet the boys in the first place. A third of the general population and almost half of the shinobi in the village had been massacred. According to Sasuke, Madara had been the one to break them out of the village. He had done all the fighting while the youngest of the three Uchiha had looked after his unconscious brother. But it couldn't have been necessary for Madara to kill _that many_ people, right?

She had made a point not to check it out before she arrived at the safe house because she had a feeling she wouldn't have been able to contain herself upon seeing Madara again if she had.

Whenever the topic of Itachi and Madara's "friendship" loomed over the conversation, Itachi found a change in subject or some reason to leave the room or an excuse to not answer. She had given him opportunity after opportunity to speak up for himself and he hadn't. He was walking on eggshells all the time, _obviously_ , and she was sure he kept dodging questions because he was afraid to be honest in front of Madara.

If that zombie _was_ beating on her oldest brother... well, she'd just have to kill him.

She felt the presences of her spirits come up behind her, fresh from their separate vacations to the farther back portions of Kaisuki's inner landscapes. " _How's it going? Seems a little cold out here._ " Khrai asked, looking around. " _I thought I heard you brooding about Itachi again._ "

" _I was,_ " Kaisuki replied to her internally. " _Still am. Anyone have any thoughts?_ "

" _None that we haven't already discussed_ ," Izumi said apologetically. " _We need to separate them long enough to talk to Itachi. Did you decide if you wanted to be forward about that or not_?"

" _Nope_ ," was the answered they got from their hostess. She felt bad; she hadn't thought too much about that part. She wasn't even sure how to broach the subject, let alone how to get them away from each other. " _Probably just invite Itachi out and ask the others to do something while we're gone. Izumi, would you talk to him?_ "

She heard the hum of affirmation. " _Of course. I think he's more likely to talk to me, anyway._ "

A soft warmth came up behind her. " _Hi, Saeka. How was the back_?" Kaisuki asked. Saeka hummed thoughtfully.

" _Cold,_ " She said simply. " _I tried to warm things up but it's impossible. Here, Khrai, touch my hand_."

Kaisuki smiled to herself from her reins, but not on her actual face. " _Shit, that_ _ **is**_ _cold. Even for Kaisuki._ "

" _Rude._ " The Yurei teased.

" _Are you going to talk to Kisame and Sasuke? Have you yet?_ " Saeka asked.

Kaisuki looked back and shook her head. " _No, I was waiting for you guys. I know you wanted to eavesdrop._ "

" _Hey, fuck you,_ " Khrai replied. " _He's our friend, too._ "

Kaisuki smiled to herself again, so Kisame and Sasuke wouldn't see and ask her about that. Then, she looked right and left at her company and spoke aloud, "Did you guys notice?"

"Wha-...?" Sasuke began but stopped with dawning realization in his eyes. "Oh."

"Itachi, right?" Kisame clarified. Kaisuki hummed her confirmation. "Yea, I noticed. I've never seen him act like _that_ around anyone."

" _You've not met Wolf, Kisame,_ " Khrai muttered behind her. Izumi shushed her immediately and they all quietened.

"You didn't get to see him with Wolf," Sasuke bitterly stated. "He was terrified of Wolf."

Kaisuki nodded in agreement, looking at Kisame. "He really was. But then, Wolf was literally tormenting him for more than a year."

"Madara's been working him over for longer," Kisame said in a heavy voice. "A lot longer. If he's been... well, quite frankly, beating him from the start, Itachi's a full-on battered wife at this point."

Sasuke's chakra was shifting next to her, his usual gentle hum of electricity slowly becoming a storm. "He never used to be like this. When he left after... after the m-massacre he was... stronger. A lot stronger."

"Sasuke," Kisame let out another sigh, this one much quieter and holding _so_ much sorrow. "In Akatsuki, sometimes we get captured on purpose, sometimes on a happy accident." Sasuke and Kaisuki both looked at Kisame. He looked guilty. Kaisuki had never seen him look so _guilty_. "I'm sure it was the same in ANBU's Black Ops."

"Itachi's been being periodically tortured at various different detention centers across the Nations, multiple times in hostile places like Kirigakure and Amegakure," Kisame told them. "I've had to let him get caught by opposing organizations before so he could weasel information out of their questions. Usually when one of us gets caught, we contact the organization heads to find out how much time we should give them to gather information before we rescue them. Usually, the smaller or younger of the pair does that form of reconnaissance, because people let their guard down more around smaller, weaker-looking individuals, even if they're not actually weaker. Itachi is honestly exceptional for the job."

Sasuke's chakra felt like an impossibly powerful and violent thunderstorm behind her. Saeka was shifting uncomfortably behind her reins at that point, the heat from her chakra becoming a searing blaze within Kaisuki. The youngest spirit seemed very upset; not itching to kill or maim, just pure emotional agony. Kaisuki felt it raw in her heart and it grew a lump in her throat.

"The time the two of us were alone was supposed to be sanctuary. We felt safe with the other there because we trusted each other's abilities. We could be just a little more relaxed around each other," Kisame looked forlorn. "I felt that way, anyway. I guess he probably didn't. I wish he'd told me. Probably assumed I would've called him crazy. Stupid brat."

"Anyway," Kisame paused. "You spend enough time living like he's been living, without _ever_ catching a break... well, eventually, you wear down. Your mental defenses start to betray you. It's just what happens. Itachi's not the first person I've met like that, not by a long shot. He's just holding himself together the best. Well," another soft sigh from the blue-haired man, "he was, anyway."

There was a long silence after Kisame stopped talking. Even in her head. There was just the sound of them walking through the sparse forestry around the outskirts of a small city. Kaisuki didn't even know what to say.

" _What do we do, then?_ "

"What do we do, then?"

It was kind of weird, hearing Khrai and Sasuke speak in unison, one aloud and one in her head.

" _May I, Kaisuki?_ " Izumi requested from behind her. Kaisuki looked back and nodded, switching out with her quickly. "The plan is to get them apart somehow and talk to Itachi-kun in private. I haven't decided what I'm going to say to him yet, but you two will be charged with keeping Madara from following us. I don't know if he would, but let's be safe rather than sorry, yes?"

Izumi was watching the world ahead of her so Kaisuki could only assume that Kisame and Sasuke were nodding in agreement or something. "Do you think Itachi will talk to you?" Sasuke asked uncertainly. "He's pretty dodgy."

The green-eyed spirit chuckled, "He's never successfully lied to my face about anything. I'm very good at catching a lying patient, and it just so happens that Itachi is a-..."

" _Incoming,_ " Saeka suddenly said in a very tense voice. That was bad news, for sure. Izumi stopped dead in her tracks. Kaisuki felt her instant fear response and she hurried up to take over. The irou-nin was more than happy to let her.

"Kaisuki?" Kisame said. Both Sasuke and he were looking at her. "Something coming?"

" _It's Teara,_ " Saeka clarified, " _I... think?_ "

" _What do you mean, 'you think'?_ " Khrai snapped, " _Is it him or not?_!"

" _I-... think so, but his chakra feels way different,_ " Saeka replied, sounding anxious. " _It feels like he's lost all his demons. He's coming from the right, down the path._ "

Kaisuki blinked, eyebrows coming together as she mouthed ' _what_ ' at no one. "Saeka says she thinks it's Teara..."

"T-Teara?" Sasuke sputtered, eyes blowing up hugely. Kaisuki nodded seriously. Her friend's face lost every shade of color it had, leaving him gray-faced and trembling. Kaisuki wrapped her hand around his elbow and pulled him closer, then behind her. Sasuke didn't resist.

They were standing at the very edge of one of the main roads through Hi no Kuni, nothing to really shield them. Kaisuki sighed heavily and started forward, stepping out on to the road and looking right. Right away, she spotted Teara, maybe a hundred feet away, clutching something in his left hand as he walked. He was wearing a sling on his right arm and, as he approached, she could see that he had a black eye and was covered in bruises and patches of gauze. He was pale as a ghost and the shadows under his eyes could rival that of Kaisuki or Sasuke.

" _He's sick,_ " Izumi confimed Kaisuki's suspicions. " _He has a fever, pretty high. He's also clearly been losing a lot of sleep._ "

" _He's got a spiderweb on his arm and at the base of his neck, you see it?_ " Khrai suddenly said, sounding disturbed. " _Pretty dark. Looks like an old infection that's getting out of hand._ "

" _I was getting to that, yes. What kind of infection, Khrai? What do you mean?_ " Izumi asked. Khrai sniffed.

" _It's caused by excessive and prolonged exposure to demonic energy._ " The blond Elf replied. " _Like, way worse than Sasuke kind of exposure._ _ **That**_ _is the level of exposure that usually kills people. It causes an infection of the spirit that manifests on the body. Clogs the chakra circulatory system like cholesterol._ "

"Good morning, you fuckwad," she greeted Teara as he slowed to a stop between five and ten feet away. Kaisuki's mouth was dry and her stomach was doing flips, but she managed to force a certain amount of overt hostility. She felt a pair of eyes on the back of her head. She was sure Kisame had noticed. Teara probably had too, if she were honest with herself.

"Actually, it's barely morning." Teara replied tiredly, humorlessly. He didn't seem to care about her slip if he had noticed it. He also ignored her insult and didn't reply with one of his own. Something was _wrong_. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Looking for you." Kisame told him frankly. "Hadn't seen you in a while. Wanted to make sure you weren't up to any fuckery. Are you?"

"No," he told them blackly. "No fuckery to be gotten up to."

There was a pause. "What the fuck does that mean?" Kaisuki asked in confusion.

"It means I got fired. It's a whole lot of none of your business," Teara informed them disinterestedly. "I didn't come to you to discuss my employability, anyway."

"I didn't realize you'd 'come to us' for anything." Kisame responded with dangerous levels of sass. After a few times of almost being killed by Teara, neither he nor Kaisuki had any patience for the man. It showed best when Kisame was talking to him.

The white-haired man stared at Kisame witheringly. "Madara is unstable," he began without stopping to answer Kisame. Kaisuki blinked. She felt Sasuke stiffen behind her, and she felt Kisame's simmering chakra subside some. "The body is artificial so the soul has to be attached manually. He woke up halfway through the binding process and then wouldn't sit still for the rest of it. Usually people don't wake up until it's _done_."

"So, what happens if he doesn't finish the binding?" Kaisuki asked slowly, eyebrows coming together. "What does "unstable" mean?"

"According to what I've read, it usually manifests as persistent emotionally instability or chronic illness," came the reply. Teara held up what he'd been holding - it was a scroll. "This is a Soul Lock."

" _ **What**_?" Khrai's voice came forth unexpectedly.

"It's used to bind one soul to another. Use it on Itachi and Madara and that should stabilize him," Teara explained.

"Why Itachi?" Kaisuki asked, frowning.

Teara raised an eyebrow. "Just trust me on this exact thing, nothing else for the rest of your life if you must. It _has_ to be Itachi. It won't work quite the same otherwise; this Lock is for marriage. It'll bind their vitality through sickness and health, keep one alive so long as the other isn't killed. But there needs to be a similar bond for it to work. Madara and Itachi have the... _relationship_ that best resembles that."

A hush had fallen over the inside of her head. Khrai had quietened and her presence felt muted, as though she weren't really there. Saeka felt anxious, Izumi felt confused, and none of them were talking at all. Kaisuki wasn't sure what was going on with Khrai but she had a bad feeling about the Soul Lock. Why would Teara be giving them something that could help?

Teara tossed her the scroll and she caught it without thinking about it. "Why are you trying to help?" Kaisuki asked, looking at him suspiciously. "Last I heard, we were mortal enemies."

There was a brief pause before he replied; "Well, I figured the least I could do is get back at them for firing me."

She could tell he was lying but decided not to question it right then. He hadn't told her the truth from the jump and he probably wasn't going to suddenly start being honest if she called him out. She pocketed the scroll and exchanged a glance with Kisame. Sasuke had dipped his head forward and wasn't making eye contact with anyone. Teara staring at him for even those few seconds seemed to have made quite the impression.

The sound of a kage bunshin bursting into smoke alerted her to the fact that the white-haired man was gone.

"Should go back?" Kisame clapped Sasuke's shoulder and the boy flinched and looked up. The two of them exchange a brief glance before Sasuke took in a shuddering breath, hand pressed to his chest. He was practically hyperventilating.

" _Thank you, Kisame,_ " Izumi quietly said behind her. " _Keep talking, Kaisuki. You want to distract him from himself at least a little right now_."

Kaisuki frowned. "We'll rest up first and head back tonight. I think I want to explore the area first, though."

Kisame nodded. "Makes sense. Lead the way."

" _Engage him, Kaisuki_ ," Izumi instructed. Kaisuki internally hummed in reply.

The Yurei nodded and looked to Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you okay?"

He nodded stiffly, still hunched forward. "I-I-I'm fi-fine."

"Can you walk? I want to find some cover." Kaisuki told him. He nodded again. Kaisuki wrapped an arm around his shoulder and started walking him towards a copse of trees. Her heart was hammering nervously in her chest but, given the crisis at hand, she ignored her own anxiety and focused on Sasuke's instead.

A few minutes of walking had them under the shade of thick trees. Kaisuki's mind wound up wandering back to Teara. They would look over the "Soul Lock" when they got back to the house - Khrai clearly knew what it was, so she could verify it's quality. Teara was, as usual, an enigma she wanted to unravel but couldn't.

"He looked _terrible_." The Yurei said, frowning deeply. "I've never seen him look like such shit. Kind of amazing."

Sasuke didn't speak. Kisame hummed in agreement. "I know how it is. You mess up one too many times, they'll cut you loose. Only that usually ends in agonizing death."

"He did say he got fired," Kaisuki replied. "He's lucky to have gotten away with all his fingers."

" _I'm_ surprised he got away with his _life,_ " Kisame conceded darkly.

Sasuke cleared his throat, attracting her attention. But when she looked over at him, he was staring at the ground. She could feel Izumi stepping closer to peer carefully through her eyes. The Uchiha didn't speak, though. He just sat there, staring at the ground in what looked like mild horror.

Kaisuki didn't need Izumi's instruction. "Sasuke, what's wrong? What are you brooding about?"

Sasuke didn't reply immediately. He slowly looked up at her, despaired. "I knew it," he quietly imparted. "His... handler probably did that to him. She's..." he trailed off. Kaisuki wasn't sure what to think of the look on his face.

"He's been losing his ability to use his chakra," Sasuke told them, his lower lip trembling, "for a while now. He used to be able to do complex irou-ninjutsu like nobody's business, but last I knew he can barely heal a gash. Too much magic usage, too much exposure to-... to the demonic energy. It's ki-killing him. It's been killing him f-for years but he was battling it by repairing the d-damage and clearing out the blockages as they came. That was one of my jobs. There's no one to h-help him now, though s-so he'll p-probably end up..."

Kaisuki stared at him as his eyes welled with tears. Sasuke _had_ started empathizing with Teara.

"Sasuke, Teara isn't our concern," she told him firmly but gently. "Honestly, it would be better if he _did_ die-..."

"No!" The Uchiha blurted out. His eyes were leaking tears. "You don't _get_ it. You haven't been there. They are _awful_ to him, they are awful to _all_ humans. His handler especially despises him and wh-when he messes something up, sh-she..."

Kisame, who had been quiet for several minutes, spoke then. "Let me guess this; Teara is the way he is because of how he was raised. I gather he's been with the demons for a long while-..."

"He was born to them," Sasuke whispered.

"What?" Kaisuki deadpanned.

"Ah," Kisame nodded sagely. "So, he was raised from birth by them. Clearly he takes after his handler. So she beats on him and he beats on Sasuke."

Sasuke was staring at the ground, looking bothered. "What's wrong now?" Kisame asked, tapping Sasuke's shoulder roughly. The Uchiha looked over at him, frowning deeply.

"I don't... know how I know all of this," he quietly said. "I don't really remember it. I just know it."

"Well," Kaisuki sighed out. "You were with him for a long time, Sasuke. Your memories may be repressed but you learned everything you could about him just by observation. I know you well, Sasuke; I'm sure you know almost all his ticks."

The Uchiha sank into himself further. "But," Kaisuki continued, softening her voice, "once again, Teara isn't our friend. He's been our enemy from the start. I don't mind you indexing him - it's good to gather that kind of information. However, I don't care if he's suffering; he tortured you for three years and continues to torment you just by existing. I'd kill him myself if he would hold still."

Sasuke shook his head, "You don't understand."

" _Kaisuki_ " Izumi suddenly spoke after a long silence from the spirit. Saeka seemed to have disappeared. Kaisuki paid very close attention to what the irou-nin said. " _Sasuke has developed a... disorder of thought, I suppose you might say. In Tsukigakure we call it Victim's Empathy. It usually happens when someone is held hostage by a hostile party for a long time. Eventually they start to see things about their captor that make them think 'maybe he's not so bad'. It's a coping mechanism, to make torture seem not so bad. It will be extremely difficult to correct his thought pattern right now. Let it lie, okay_?"

Kaisuki's mouth was dry. Sasuke was such a mess and she hated to put it like that but it was true. Insomnia, nightmares and night terrors, depression, severe anxiety, and apparently now Victim's Empathy. Her brother was so damaged and she _hated_ Teara with a _burning passion_.

"Okay, " she conceded. "It's fine, Sasuke. We'll work on these things, in time. In the meantime... well, honestly, I'm sure Teara can take care of himself. He seems like a capable young man."

For some reason, that brought a snicker to Sasuke's mouth, a smile to his face. He chuckled lightly and wiped his eyes. "Y-yea," he mumbled thickly. "He is."

She didn't know what to think but she let it lie, as Izumi had instructed.

 


	27. within screaming distance

_**27.** _

Before they could discuss the Soul Lock, however, they were met with an immediate emergency.

"Where the hell is he?" Kisame had backed Madara into a wall, despite the fact that the older Uchiha could likely butcher him alive in a second. Madara was white in the face and looked panicked but Kisame's clearly wasn't buying it. Kaisuki wasn't sure who to believe. "Answer me."

"I'm telling you, I don't fucking know!" Madara exploded indignantly, "He wanted to sit outside, I told him to stay on the steps, he said he would. I went to lay down - even told him I was going to! I get up twenty minutes later and he's _gone_. I went out looking for him for an hour, got back like five minutes ago, _nothing_! I don't know where he is or even how long he's been gone exactly and-... and why are you looking at me like you think _I_ did something!?"

Kisame's glare intensified, "Because I wouldn't be surprised if you had." Madara's expression wasn't insulted like one might've expected, but he did look very hurt. "Kaisuki, should we go looking for him?"

She felt Sasuke's eyes on her.

" _Where do you think he went?_ " Izumi asked nervously. Kaisuki glanced back at her, frowning internally.

" _I don't know, Izumi,_ " she replied honestly. Her heart was in her throat. " _Maybe he just went for a walk, but I don't know if he'll make it back alright._ "

"Kaisuki?" Kisame's urgent tone dragged her back to the present. She hadn't spaced out while talking to her spirits in a while. She needed a nap. She hadn't really slept in a couple of days.

"Yes, you and..." She began as soon as she recalled what she had been asked.

But before she could finish, the door opened and Itachi walked in. He looked very tired. He kicked off his shoes and looked up, taking in the scene. "I'm surprised you're all back so soon," was what he said but he sounded relieved more than anything else. Kaisuki was immediately suspicious. "How was the adventure, Sasuke?"

" _Why does he sound so relieved?_ " Kaisuki asked Izumi. The woman was silent for a moment.

" _Is that a rhetorical question?_ "

" _No,_ " Kaisuki replied tensely. " _It's more like validation._ "

" _He's relieved either because he was afraid something would happen while we were gone_ ," Izumi answered her question stiffly, " _or something_ _ **did**_ _happen while we were gone_."

Sasuke was staring at Itachi. "U-um... well, we did run into Teara."

The older brother blinked and, in a very dry tone, said, "Oh? How is he?"

"He looked like shit," Kisame stated, walking away from Madara. "Where the hell were you?"

"I went for a walk," Itachi explained as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Kaisuki wanted to ask why he'd gone on a walk when he knew he was a _target_ but she decided to hold off on the question. She could probably gather more from the situation if she just observed the two older Uchiha. She could tell Madara was about to blow up on Itachi. "I stayed within the boundary, if that's what you're wondering."

"No," Madara said, walking up to Itachi. Kaisuki watched Itachi's shoulder stiffen noticeably, saw his leg twitch like he wanted to back up. But he didn't. He held his ground. "What we're wondering is how _I_ couldn't fucking find you, when I'm the strongest sensory-type this world has ever fucking seen." The man snarled in a fury, "Where the _fuck_ did you go?"

" _His carotid is pulsing,_ " Izumi observed, " _he's anxious but I don't think it's because he's lying._ "

Kaisuki's mouth was dry.

Itachi frowned but the dead irou-nin was right; Kaisuki could see that Itachi was anxious. He kept clenching and unclenching his hands and, like Izumi had said, his carotid was throbbing with the rate of his heart, which was evidently racing. "I'm telling you, I didn't go anywhere. I made a lap about an eighth of a mile out and came back. I've only been gone for around half an hour."

Madara stared at Itachi for a moment, looking like he wanted to hit him very badly. "You've been gone for almost two hours, Itachi. At the absolute least. Because when I woke up at two-thirty, you were already gone, and now it's past four."

Itachi was beginning to look somewhere between flustered and highly annoyed. "I wasn't gone that long, Madara. I only just left."

" _I think Itachi is lying,_ " Saeka whispered. Kaisuki stiffened and pulled back to turn around and face her.

Izumi immediately cut into the doubts that flocked to Kaisuki's mind right away. " _I disagree, Saeka. What reason does he have to lie? If anything, I suspect Madara is gaslighting._ "

The girl looked at Izumi stonily but she didn't speak

"You did not! I just got back from looking for you, and I was gone for over an hour!" Madara's voice was rising, his frustration growing ever clear. Kaisuki didn't know who to believe but she knew that Madara and Itachi getting into a screaming match wasn't going to tell her.

"Okay, that's enough," Kaisuki stepped in very loudly, silencing both of them. "Either way, Itachi's back safe and sound. That is what I care about. Let's not devolve into fist fights over something like _this._ "

The Yurei paused, pinching the bridge of her nose. " _However_ , I _am_ going to reiterate; Itachi, given the fact that you are the one who is the _most_ wanted and vulnerable right now, you _can't_ just go out by yourself. You _can't_. If you want to go for a walk, you _have_ to bring company. I don't care who. The fact of the matter is, if you end up getting captured, we are _all_ _ **fucked**_."

"My apologies," Itachi looked defeated by the end of her lecture. "I assumed the barrier would... I don't know. I just assumed it would be enough, I suppose."

"It can only keep out corporeal bodies, Itachi," Kaisuki said in exasperation. "I _know_ Khrai explained this before. Demons aren't always coporeal, and shadows _definitely_ aren't corporeal. An eighth of a mile is halfway to edge of the barrier. Just stay here, okay?" She sighed very heavily. "I know you hate being cooped up, I hate it too. That's why I go out looking for trouble, and that's why the offer always stands for you to accompany me. You just gotta say the word and I'll get you out of here for a little while."

Her older brother nodded silently. There was a hush that fell over the room for a moment before he softly said, "I was on my way to lay down in the first place. Wake me up for dinner."

Kaisuki's eyebrows came together as he walked through the living room and disappeared into the back of the house. She pressed her fingers into her eyes, his mind reeling. Was it possible that Itachi was lying? If he was, why would he be? It didn't really make sense for him to lie and he obviously wasn't possessed so _could_ that be what was going on?

Madara had said he hadn't been able to find Itachi but no one else had been around to verify that Itachi's chakra was indeed off the radar. It was possible, in that case, that the man _was_ gaslighting after all. But he'd been visibly panicked when they'd arrived at the house and only after Itachi had returned had he gotten angry. Even when Kisame had blatantly informed him that he didn't trust him, the man hadn't gotten angry, he'd just seemed hurt. So maybe he _wasn't_ gaslighting.

The Yurei sighed in annoyance. "Jeez," she huffed. Sasuke had been quiet throughout the entire scene and she looked over at him at that moment to get an index on how he was doing. "Sasuke, you alright?"

He looked over at her, his face white, and smiled the most false smile she'd ever seen. "Y-yea... s-sorry, I'm just... stressed."

Kaisuki wasn't sure she believed that self-diagnosis but she didn't question it. "I feel you there," she agreed with him.

...

When Sasuke walked out into the living room during the earliest parts of the evening, the day after Itachi's "walk", Kaisuki was the only one in the living room. She was curled up on the couch with a scroll half-unwound in her hands. Her eyes were blue. Khrai was probably looking over the scroll Teara had given them, then.

"Good afternoon," Khrai greeted. Sasuke smiled at her tiredly. He had had nightmares the last few nights. He'd just come back from attempting a nap, to no avail. Itachi and Madara were hiding out in the reading nook in Kisame's room, whereas Kisame himself was in the shower.

"Hi, Khrai," he returned, walking over to the kitchen. "Reading that scroll still? Did you ever go take that nap?"

"Nah," Khrai responded, not looking up. "Sleep is for the weak, as she always says."

Sasuke paused with the fridge door propped open by his foot and a carton of eggs in his hand. "She can't sleep, I take it?"

Khrai nodded at her scroll. "She stresses herself awake all the time."

The Uchiha frowned as he pulled a few potatoes out of their bag and set them on the counter, next to the eggs. He had noticed when he'd seen her at the psych ward (seemingly _years_ ago) that her skin looked far paler than it had when she was younger. Her dark circles had only been getting darker. Honestly, she _looked_ physically ill.

"She's not... sick or anything, right?" Sasuke asked the counter. He heard Khrai shift behind him but she didn't get up.

"No," Khrai stated bluntly, "she's not sick and, if she were, I promise that at least one of the four of us would tell you."

Sasuke frowned but nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna start dinner now... um, would you tell everyone?"

Khrai set the scroll down carefully on the floor with a "yea, I got you," and headed into the back. Sasuke went to work dicing potatoes and cracking eggs into a bowl. It was never too late for breakfast. He heard Khrai walk back into the room and sit back down after a few minutes, but she didn't say anything. He decided to leave her be. That Soul Lock was important, especially if it was the real deal.

_"I got fired."_

He just didn't understand why Teara would've given them the Soul Lock. If he had been fired like he said, chances were high that it was because of Sasuke's failures and Kaisuki's meddling. He couldn't imagine why the man would want to help a bunch of people who had nearly gotten him killed.

He felt like his mind was trying to tell him something but he couldn't remember what it was. Some detail, something _important_ (that Teara had probably made him forget), some _thing_ that mattered. That would matter.

_"You are to go to Konohagakure and kill Kaisuki. She's starting to cause problems."_

_"Teara gave it to me."_

_Why would he send me to Konohagakure to kill Kaisuki and then immediately go behind my back and give Itachi something to exorcise me with?_

He was beginning to feel like he was never going to figure Teara out specifically because he just didn't remember enough. He started throwing things into pots and pans as the rest of the house meandered out into the living room, one person at a time. Kisame surfaced first and posted himself on the opposite end of the couch from Khrai. A few minutes later, Itachi and Madara appeared and sat down at the table.

Everything had been tense and awkward since Itachi had returned from his walk the prior day. Kisame seemed to still be on edge, especially. Sasuke was reasonably certain it was because of their shared suspicions regarding Itachi and Madara's relationship.

After an equally quiet breakfast, Khrai rolled up the Soul Lock and put it down next to her. "Contrary to what I originally suspected," she began as she stretched, "it's a legitimate Soul Lock. Nothing but a clean spell. However... it's just, the _way_ it's made."

Madara frowned. "What about it?"

The Elf paused and let out a breath. "Okay, so there are a few different kinds of Soul Locks; Marriage, In Sickness, and Blood Pacts. In Sickness is use to bind vitality through a bout of severe illness, but you can only use it on family tied directly by blood. So, parents and their kids or sets of siblings, basically. It's not meant to be permanent. Blood Pacts are like promises but they bind you to death. If you break a Blood Pact, both parties die.

"Finally, there's Marriage," Khrai explained to them. "Marriage is unique because of the Vows. The Vows are the Blood Pacts of a Marriage Lock, which is why Marriage is only used for people who are actually intending to spend the rest of their days together."

"We Elves didn't get married for shits and giggles; it was a holy ceremony that bound our _souls_ together. You had to be prepared to share a literal piece of your literal soul with your significant other if you wanted to get married. The Marriage Lock is excruciatingly painful and permanent, so it wasn't something that everybody just did, like the way you humans see marriage. We didn't marry until we were _sure_ , and we'd give ourselves tons of time to iron out any doubt."

"So, what _are_ the Vows?" Itachi asked slowly. Sasuke looked over at him. He looked anxious and pale and tired.

"The Vows are the Blood Pacts you make with your spouse at the time of the Locking ceremony. The Vows are usually stuff like fidelity or virginity, things like that. Basically, you are promising your partner, in that moment, that up until the moment of your binding, you have been whatever you have been, and from that moment of your binding on, you will continue to be whatever."

Khrai paused, looking around the room. "Are you all following me?"

"Almost," Madara said.

"For example," Kisame sighed out, "if your Vow is fidelity, then you better not have cheated before your wedding day, and you better not cheat afterwards. What I don't know is, what happens if you break the Vow?"

Khrai brought her eyebrows together. "Well, that's just the thing... The Vows are written down here already. Itachi vows fidelity and Madara vows protection, which are both classic to the ritual. What's weird is the Blood Pact - normally, what would happen with the Vows is, if one party breaks their vow, they'll lose the piece of their significant other that they had. Leaving a hole in an Elven soul will eventually make it rot. It'll kill the host after a few years, but your significant other would still have your piece so they would live on just fine and you would get to watch them rebuild their life while you slowly withered away to your death."

"Damn." Kisame whistled, "You guys did _not_ fuck around."

"The few ceremonies and traditions that we had, we took _very_ seriously," Khrai stated. "But... well, the way Teara put together this Soul Lock is just bizarre and I don't know-..."

"What? I thought you said it was a clean spell," the oldest Uchiha in the room deadpanned.

"It _is_ a clean spell," Khrai snapped at Madara. "Magic is finicky and flexible. There are dozens of ways to do spells. It's like a language - there's a lot of different ways to tell someone you like them, are there not? Magic is the same."

The Elf unrolled the scroll partway to show them a circular symbol. "See this? This circle is the Lock. Now see _this_?" She unrolled the scroll the rest of the way to reveal paragraphs of handwriting in a language they couldn't read. "These are the parameters of the Lock. What Teara basically set up here is a one-way Soul Lock. It'll bind Madara to Itachi without binding Itachi to Madara. What that means is that if something happens to Itachi, it'll affect Madara, but if something happens to Madara, it won't affect Itachi."

"What's the problem?"

"If Madara isn't given something to fill the space that'll be made by giving Itachi part of his soul, he could die from that alone within a few months," Khrai explained to them. She frowned and then looked up at Itachi and Madara.

"Madara, Itachi told us at one point that he found you in a hole in the ground," she said. "Mind explaining this to me?"

Madara blinked, looking confused for a moment. "Uh... well, from my very poor understanding of what happened, I got possessed. I fought _hard_ though. It was excruciating pain for what seemed like hours, and then all of a sudden there was a crack and then relief, like... like the kind of relief you get from putting a joint back in place. Only it was more like a weight being lifted off me. When I opened my eyes, I was in that hole in the ground and the rest of me was leaving."

"The rest of you?" Khrai pressed.

"My body," Madara explained. "I assume that either I got pushed out of my body or... or I guess I fractured my soul. Because I don't know how else I could’ve done that to myself."

Khrai nodded. "And Itachi, you're sure that you're the only person who's ever been able to see Madara?"

Itachi nodded slowly. "I'm sure someone would've told me by now."

Khrai nodded and then leaned back and closed her eyes. Everyone stared at her. Sasuke had a feeling he knew the answer already but he couldn't think of it. "Here is my suspicion," Khrai opened her eyes. "Itachi, I think you just might be 'the rest of Madara.'"

" _What_?" Itachi deadpanned.

"Firstly," Khrai began, "You are the only person who could see Madara, but the fact that you could see him at all means that he wasn't in Limbo, which is where he would've gone if he'd _died_. If you lose your body without dying, the Ghouls won't know where to find you, so you'd be stuck on the Mortal Plain. Knowing that Uchiha Madara terrorized the world for a little while before he died tells me that, while one half of you was stuck here, the other half made it to Limbo."

"Finally," the blonde paused, looking incredulous. "Every two hundred or so years, there's a random cycle of reincarnation. Nobody knows why, but a bunch of people get wiped clean and thrown into newborns. The last one was... I wanna say twenty-two or so years ago. Right around the time Itachi was born."

"I like to think that this plain we live on isn't run by someone who's purposely arranging things, but... this is a bit much for a coincidence." Khrai concluded, gazing down at the scroll with a frown.

"What _I_ really want to know," Kisame spoke up, sounding very brooding, "is how _Teara_ knows that. If Itachi is the only person who could see Madara's ghost, how come Teara knew that Itachi was friends with him?"

There was a hush that fell over the room. Sasuke looked at all of them. He didn't know what to say. "I guess we'll have to ask him sometimes," Madara supplied. "If we get a chance before he's mauled by the Underworld."

Khrai snorted but didn't say anything directly in response. "Okay, so I've verified the contents of the Soul Lock. If we're all right and Itachi is actually the other half of Madara, Soul Locking them should actually stabilize his life force," she stated. "Should we go through with it? Madara, Itachi?"

"I think we should," Madara stated immediately. "If it'll help, fuck yea I'm all for it. When do we start?"

Sasuke stared at his brother. Itachi had thoroughly sunk into his shoulders and was staring at his feet. He looked like he had locked up or something. It brought him back to the conversation they'd had about his brother's fear of Madara.

"Itachi?" Khrai called out to the frozen Uchiha.

Itachi sank further into his shoulders and shook his head slowly. "I don't... think it's a good idea," he softly said.

"Why the hell not?" Madara immediately snapped at him, looking affronted. "Khrai already vouched for it, what more do you want?"

"It has nothing to do with that, I just... don't want to do it, okay?" Itachi warily replied, turning away from Madara and crossing his arms. "I have a bad feeling about it, is all."

"That is far from a good excuse, so I'm afraid you're going to have to come up with something better," Madara snarled.

Itachi huffed quietly and stood up, wandering towards the window by the door. Madara followed him, closing the distance rapidly, "Nah, where the fuck are you going?" The oldest Uchiha snarled, gripping Itachi's arm and turning him around, "I'm talking to you, god damn it. Why the fuck don't you want to do it? If it'll persuade me to stop _punching you in the head_ , why the fuck are you against it?"

"Guys," Sasuke tried to interject, wondering faintly why Kisame and Khrai were just standing there like stones, watching. Were they waiting for proof? Something that Itachi couldn't deny, something that they could use as a persuasion tactic?

"How do you know it'll change _that_?" Itachi responded defiantly, completely ignoring Sasuke. "As long as I've known you, you've _always_ resorted to violence to sort out your own temper."

"How do you know it _won't_? If it won't do any harm, what's wrong with it?" Came the heated reply. Itachi directed his gaze towards the ground and Madara continued to yell at him. "If it can _help_ and it won't permanently damage us to do it, why the fuck are you against it?"

Khrai had switched out with Kaisuki, who was watching the encountered carefully, Sasuke noted. She really was just observing. He wasn't sure why that bothered him, but it _really_ bothered him. Kisame was doing much the same, but his expression was far from blank concentration, like Kaisuki's. He looked like he wanted to peel the skin from Madara's face.

"Maybe I just don't want my soul permanently tied to the likes of _you_!" Itachi exploded defensively, wrenching back on his arm. Madara didn't let go. Sasuke stared at him, his stomach dropping. He recognized that expression. Teara wore it sometimes.

The look in Itachi's eyes went from furious and indignant to terrified in an instant and Sasuke watched him flinch back. In one fluid motion, Madara reared back a fist and drove it into Itachi's cheek, letting go of his arm at the point of contact. Sasuke watched his brother stumble, catching himself on the wall, and he saw blood drip down his chin for just a few seconds before he threw open the door next to him and ran outside. Sasuke felt his chakra rapidly move away, until he couldn't sense it any longer with his natural limited range.

Madara stood there, gasping angrily for a moment before he seemingly realized what he'd done. His eyes widened and he looked down at his hand in horror. He slowly sank to his knees, staring at the ground.

A few more seconds passed before Kaisuki and Kisame both started towards the door. They walked around Madara wordlessly. Kaisuki turned back to Sasuke long enough to say, "We’ll go look for him. Keep this one here." Her voice was cold but Sasuke knew that her tone wasn't directed at him. He swallowed and nodded.

"B-be safe," he quietly said. Kaisuki nodded and followed Kisame out the door.

There was a long period of silence after the door closed.

"Why do I keep doing that?" Madara whispered after about three minutes. "Why? I hate doing that, why do I keep..." He trailed off.

Sasuke stared at him. He didn't know what to say, or if he ought to say anything at all. He just hoped they found Itachi quickly and without incident.

...

It had been hours, Itachi was reasonably certain.

The sky was black, dotted with stars and clouds. Night had fallen seemingly ages ago but he felt like his concept of time was a little off. He needed to get back but he couldn't find his way. He'd been wandering for a while and he hadn't seen anything familiar.

There was a chilly breeze rolling through the woods, freezing him to the bone. He didn't have so much as a long-sleeve shirt with him. He felt like it shouldn't be as cold outside as it was, anyway. Wasn't it mid-spring? It was usually decently warm by that time of year, even in the parts of Hi no Kuni they had established themselves in.

He wondered if Sasuke and the others were looking for him. Would they find him if he couldn't even find his way back in their general direction? Nothing so much as _looked_ familiar. He hadn't seen a single one of the marks they'd left on any of the trees he'd passed. He was hopelessly _lost_. Uchiha Itachi, the prodigious shinobi to carry out the massacre of the Uchiha Clan, the brightest student to grace Konohagakure's academy since its founding over a hundred years ago, and he was _lost in the woods_.

Another breeze ran right through him and he shivered. If he couldn't find his way home, eventually someone else was going to find him. Whether it was a friendly party or not was debatable. He had no weapons on him whatsoever and his shoulder had been aching nonstop for a couple of days. He hadn't said anything to anyone about it but it had gotten bad enough that he was trying to avoid using it.

Something cold and wet landed perfectly on the tip of his nose and he stopped and turned his gaze skyward. A sea of clouds had moved in at some point, judging by the sudden lack of visible stars. How long had it been since he last looked at the sky?

Another droplet hit his shoulder, then more on several different spots. A moment later, a light rain was starting to pour down on and around him and he shivered harder. He ducked under the thickest branches he could find in the dark, hugging himself tighter. It was so _cold_. The temperature felt closer to early winter for the area he was in.

_**Maybe it's not the weather.** _

_What?_

The undesired thought immediately made Itachi even more paranoid than he already was and he sank to his haunches to be less conspicuous. He looked around warily and activated his Sharingan. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though it did seem darker than usual for his enhanced night vision. He swallowed hard around a clenched jaw. His teeth wouldn't stop chattering and his fingers were going numb. The fact that he was damp was making everything that much worse. It was hard to concentrate when he was anxious and freezing.

He would've flared his chakra but that would give away his position to more than just his friends, assuming he was nearby enough for them to sense him. He was reasonably certain he'd been gone in excess of four to five hours. If he had traveled in more or less one direction for that long, he could've wandered more than twenty miles in that amount of time.

The thought of how far away from home he might have wandered brought a rush of panic and misery to his focus. His eyes burned and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to clear his head.

About two seconds after he did, though, something so cold it _burned_ slithered up his leg, taking a route through his pants. He knew what it was immediately and jumped to his feet, pulling his leg back until it let go, which it did far too easily. He watched it slithered back into the shadows behind the tree he'd been leaning against.

His heart was hammering. He didn't need Sasuke or Saeka or Madara or Khrai to be there to tell him that he was in the company of a demon while completely unprepared for the weather, let alone a _battle_. He hadn't been able to outrun Sumi, but his lungs hadn't been in working order at the time. On the other hand, if he started running, he could wind up _even further_ from home.

He didn't think he'd be able to win in a fight though. In his experience, the demons who could command shadows were stronger. Sumi, Teara, the second demon to possess Sasuke - all of them had command over the shadows, and Itachi had lost to two of them. The only one he'd ever won against was Eirun, and he hadn't had the shadows.

His only real choice was to run in more or less one direction until he found civilization. He knew all the surrounding villages - he could find one and use it as a starting point to get himself back home.

He saw another shadow lash out for his ankle and jumped backwards, leaping into the trees and taking off as fast as he possibly could. Right away he noticed that his chest felt tight. It wasn't the same kind of tightness that the Inflammatory Lung Syndrome had brought on, but it did make breathing a little difficult. Whichever demon had found him, they were strong enough to emit miasma like Sumi could.

 _Great_.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder briefly but didn't see anyone pursuing him. He wasn't about to slow down but the fact that he couldn't see anyone behind him was making him anxious. He _had_ to find his way back. He didn't even know how he'd gotten so far away! Khrai had said they would feel it when they crossed the barrier, so why hadn't he! _?_ If he had, he would've turned around immediately. Had her shield come down? Had something happened while he'd been gone?

His throat closed up abruptly and he nearly lost his footing. He was forced to drop out of the trees and back to the ground to avoid breaking his leg, and then he was forced to stop moving altogether so he didn't black out. Once he'd stopped, his airways slowly opened up again. He gasped for air for a moment, pressing his hand into his aching chest. He immediately thought of the effect Sumi's miasma had had on him. He knew he was sensitive to it already. He just hadn't thought that it would still affect him so much after he'd recovered from the Inflammatory Syndrome.

If his lungs weren't going to cooperate with him, how was he going to get away?

He straightened up and started walking, keeping a brisk pace even as his throat got tight. It was probably a bad idea, but he made to flare his chakra as high as he could. Even if he only did it a couple of times, Madara and Saeka would pick up on it and be able to get an idea of where he was coming from, right?

However, when he tried, he was only able to get the height maybe a third of the way. It felt like something was inhibiting his chakra. Like a clog, or something. Something that was preventing him from accessing all of it at once.

_Now what?_

It was still raining. He was frozen to the bone, to the point that his joints felt stiff and it was hard to keep moving quickly. He couldn't stop shivering, couldn't making his teeth stop chattering. If he was lucky, he'd freeze to death before whoever was chasing him caught up.

Mid-step, Itachi felt something wrap around his ankle again, but this time it didn't let go when he wrenched back on it. Instead, it yanked back far harder and completely pulled his foot out from under him. His back hit the ground hard, knocking all the wind out of him, and the next thing he knew he was being dragged across the wet, somewhat muddy ground, back the way he'd come. His chest was tightening up again and he couldn't really breathe with how cold the air was getting.

He was abruptly lifted into the air, held up by his ankle. By that point, he was _drenched_. The air was even colder. It felt like the water was freezing on his skin. He was so cold he could barely move aside from shivering, but he thrashed as much as he could.

_**Stop struggling.** _

His body seemed to be trying to resist him but he ignored it. He wasn't about to listen to some voice spouting alternate facts in his head. He looked up to see who it was that was holding him by the leg and froze without meaning to.

It was Wolf.

_Didn't they both say... Madara killed him?_

The sight of the man renewed his efforts and he kicked it up a notch on the thrashing. He wanted to snarl something particularly cheeky but his throat still wasn't taking much in the way of air and he didn't want to risk passing out anymore than he already was.

"Enough."

He heard Wolf's words about a split second before unbearable pain tore through the meat of his calf. He managed to catch a glance at his leg for a second, just long enough to take in what had happened. It looked like a serrated blade. That wasn't going to heal well. He kicked out with his free leg but Wolf caught that ankle with a shadow, and a moment later more had grabbed his wrists and another, thicker one had wrapped around his waist.

Then, Wolf dragged the blade from his upper calf to his ankle, through flesh and bone.

Itachi howled in pain, trying impulsively to pull his foot free. He could feel warm blood running up his leg. A lot of it. Wolf dropped him unceremoniously, the shadows only ensuring that he didn't land directly on his head. He had to close his eyes to keep from getting splashed-up mud in them. The shadows still wouldn't let him go and he was in enough pain that it was hard to concentrate on getting away.

He felt a presence far too close and Itachi opened his eyes, startled to find Wolf crawling on top of him. The Uchiha instinctively planted his uninjured foot and tried to push himself away but he couldn't _move_. There were tendrils of darkness crawling all over him, slithering under his clothes and leaving burns in their wake. His stomach was rolling and he felt nauseous.

Wolf sat back and reached under his cloak. He didn't seem to be in any form of a hurry whatsoever. Itachi, still trying to move, watched him produce a syringe with a thick gauge needle, full of something black from the folds of his cloak. He didn't know what was in that needle but he didn't want it anywhere near him.

_**You're not going to get away. It's over. Probably shouldn't have run off, huh?** _

Wolf leaned forward and grabbed his jaw, turning his head to the side. "This won't hurt for long," he promised. Itachi shut his eyes and a moment later he could feel the needle slide into his neck. It _hurt_. He made a thin sound. He wanted to move, but not with that thing in his neck. He felt it when Wolf depressed the plunger, pushing whatever that was into his body. Hopefully it didn't give him a heart attack.

It burned like fire. He sucked in a startled breath and everything when dark for a moment.

When his eyes opened as his awareness returned, the very first thing he noticed was that his chakra had been completely immobilized. Where it had been sluggish before, at that point it was completely inaccessible. Shortly after that came the feeling of hands _all over him_ , and not in a random pattern.

_"He wouldn't s-s-s-stop..."_

_"I know, Itachi, I know. I'm sorry, it was just for that mission. Never again."_

The vivid images that rushed to the forefront of his mind brought the strongest wave of panic he'd ever felt. Itachi felt the button on his pants snap off completely and a moment later Wolf yanked hard on his waist band and broke the zipper. The Uchiha was clawing and thrashing harder than ever before but, even if he could get free, he couldn't get _away_. There was a gaping wound in his leg and he knew he wouldn't be able to walk on it.

But his throat felt like it wasn't quite as tight and his impulse took advantage of it immediately. He opened his mouth, drew in a breath, and let out the loudest wail he could. Listening to himself, he was reasonably certain that if _anyone_ could hear him, they would come running. Hopefully.

" **Silence.** "

All at once, his voice stopped in his throat. Itachi's eyes widened hugely. Where did it go? He tried to use his voice again but no sound would come out. Was that _Wolf?_ What had that demon given him! _?_ He couldn't even _grunt_. How was anyone going to find him? He couldn't use his chakra, he couldn't use his voice, he couldn't walk, he didn't have any weapons, what was he going to do? What was he going to do! _?_

_**You're going to lay there and take whatever he gives you.** _

_No, no, no, no, no please no please no please_ _**please** _

It was one of his oldest recurring nightmares all over again.

His eyes had welled with tears to the point that he could barely see, but he was able to spot a spark of white as it appeared from beyond the shadows of the trees. Whoever that was, they were still for about three seconds before the started approaching briskly, their pace implying fury.

Who did he know with white hair?

Whoever it was, they reached around from behind Wolf and grabbed him by the throat, picking up bodily off of Itachi. They then turned and slammed him into the nearest tree. Itachi blinked several times to clear his vision before he looked up again.

He froze, shocked.

By the time he had looked up, Wolf was on the ground, his throat slit wide open. Teara was standing over him, shoulders shaking somewhat, wiping his knife off with a handkerchief. Itachi slowly lowered his gaze to the wound on his leg. He felt numb. Rooted to the spot.

What would've happened to him if Teara hadn't shown up with good intentions? _Teara_ , of all people?

Ironically, he noted that it had stopped raining.

"What," Teara began, sounding very angry as he was turning to face Itachi, "are you _doing_ all the way out here, alone?"

The tears that were still burning his eyes started to fall all at once. He pressed his face into his hands before Teara could see him. He still didn't have a voice and he couldn't stop shaking. He hunched into himself, unable to calm down.

"Hey," Teara's voice floated over from much closer. Itachi jerked back and sat up. The white-haired man was sitting on his haunches right beside him. When had he gotten so close? Teara studied him for a moment before he looked down at the wound on Itachi's leg. He shook his head, seemingly in disbelief. Itachi didn't need or want anyone else telling him how stupid he was for going out by himself so close to dark without so much as a sweater, so he kept his gaze on the ground.

_Please go away. Leave me here. Just go away._

"I can't leave you here," came the bad news right away. Teara glanced over at Wolf's corpse. "He won't be out for long. Is this your only injury?"

Itachi stiffened at the notion that Wolf would be getting back up. He nodded, his lip trembling. He refused to look Teara in the eye. The man sighed heavily and slid a bag off his shoulder. He dug around in it for a moment before producing a length of cloth, which he tied tightly just below the knee of Itachi's injured leg.

"I'm going to have to carry you back," Teara told him frankly. "Don't give me trouble for doing you a favor."

Itachi didn't respond at all. He couldn't speak in the first place and he had apparently turned to stone anyway. Teara went back into his bag for a second before something thick was wrapped around the Uchiha's shoulders. Teara tucked the blanket around him carefully and lifted him up, sighing to himself.

"Just focus on breathing," Teara sounded like completely different person when he spoke gently. "You'll be home soon enough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have ONE chapter that I can post before I run out of chapters to post. I haven't been able to write in a while for a variety of reasons, mainly depression and stress. My muse dried up for the moment. So, I'm going to go ahead and announce right now:
> 
> THIS STORY IS GOING ON HIATUS UNTIL 1/1/2018, PROBABLY. If I can get something done before November I'll start posting then, but otherwise don't expect much before the beginning of the New Year. I am SO SORRY :(


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